Certified Ethical Hacker
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification is a professional certification provided by the International Council of E-Commerce Consultants.
The definition of an Ethical Hacker is very similar to a Penetration Tester. The Ethical Hacker is an individual who is usually employed with the organization and who can be trusted to undertake an attempt to penetrate networks and/or computer systems using the same methods as a Hacker. Illegal hacking (ie; cracking computer systems) is a felony in the United States and most other countries. But when this type of hacking is done by request and under a contract between an Ethical Hacker and an organization, it is legal. The most important point is that an Ethical Hacker has authorization to probe the target.
A Certified Ethical Hacker is a skilled professional who understands and knows how to look for the weaknesses and vulnerabilities in target systems and uses the same knowledge and tools as a malicious hacker.
The certification is currently in Version 5 as of November 2006
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[edit] Certification coursework
The coursework consists of 22 modules of subject matter. Module times range from 30 minutes to up to five hours, or more, depending on the depth of the information provided.
Some universities in Asia includes EC Council's CEH program in one of their course modules (eg. Informatics in Singapore and Ateneo Center for Continuing Education in Manila, Philippines).
In France, the CEH program is provided by EduGroupe, a training center in Paris.
[edit] Examination
Certification is achieved through training at an ATC (Accredited Training Center) or self-study. If students choose to self-study, in order to sit for the exam they must fill out an application and also have documented 2 years of information security work experience. Both CEH v4 and v5 utilize EC-Council's exam 312-50. The exam consists of 125 (v4) or 150 (v5) multiple-choice questions, and students are given up to three or four hours, respectively, to complete the examination. The exam costs US$250, and is administered via computer at an EC-Council Accredited Training Center, Pearson VUE, or Prometric testing center (in the United States).
It is mentioned that in Asia Pacific and Europe, self-study options are not available and only the instructor-led training with courseware kit subscription entitles you for the exam voucher.
