Quintius
Grey Hat Developer
The ever so contro-ver-si-al CEH. The Certified Ethical Hater. Not really, I’m kidding. I’m talking about the Certified Ethical Hacker exam by EC-Council. If you’re thinking of the one that seems to be a running joke among infosec folk you would be correct.
Keep in mind that people have different reasons for taking this exam. I’m about to share with you my reasons and my review of it. I’ll start with the reasons then lastly I’ll give you my review.
When I was sitting in a crummy roach infested apartment in the projects, searching for a field in IT to enter to help evolve into a career change the term Certified Ethical Hacker was one I encountered along with an exam to accompany the title. I did more research on the term, thought it a dope enough title for an underground hip-hop legend to hold, made it a goal to learn this stuff and earn this certification.
Another reason is because I told my family that I was going to obtain that certification and Word is Bond to Life. True Story – I didn’t meet my next to youngest daughter until she was around 8 years old. During the encounter I just so happened to have been traveling with the CEH exam study guide upon which, a conversation ensued about this being what her dad was engaged in these days. She is now 18 years old!
My last but not least reason for taking it is because it was a current requirement of my degree program in order to obtain my Master’s. Yes, what you may know as credits per term, at my university they are called CU’s. (Competency Units). And in this instance, a certification comes with those CU’s.
As for my review of the exam itself. I will not repeat the obvious that you are so used to hearing by now. I will say do not feel the need to go in overly prepared to “hack” anything. That being said, be prepared to answer a ton of questions about a lot of “hacking” topics and scenarios. However, you will have to know enough about which Nmap flags will get you what.
There you have it. My baby review along with my reasons for taking the contro-ver-si-al Certified Ethical Hacker exam. Now if you’re considering taking it, it’s up to you to find yours.