How Long Does It Take To Learn Ethical Hacking?

Hello guys, if you want to learn Ethical Hacking and become a Ethical hacker in 2023 and looking for best resources like online courses, books, and tutorials then you have come to the right place. Earlier, I have shared best Ethical Hacking courses, books as well as free Ethical Hacking courses and in this article, I am going to share you how long does it to become an Ethical Hacker. With this rapid growth in technology, companies are moving their data to the cloud and using web apps to deliver service to their users. Protecting this data from cybercriminals becomes an essential part, and they need to hire an ethical hacker to protect this infrastructure. Learn in this article how to become an ethical hacker and how much time you need to learn these skills.

1. How long does it take to understand ethical hacking?

Ethical hacking is a broad term, and it involves many domains such as web app security, cloud security, network hacking, IoT system hacking, and much more. Still, if you want to learn these domains and get an overview of ethical hacking, it may take less than a year to complete. 

2. Can you learn ethical hacking by yourself?

The short answer is yes, it is possible, but you will have to learn many skills and be comfortable using many programming languages such as Java, Python, C/C++, HTML/CSS/JavaScript. You can learn these skills and programming languages from Youtube videos, e-books, online learning platforms such as Coursera, Udemy, edX, and more.

3. How much will every skill take to learn?

You will need to learn many skills and languages. You need to be familiar with operating systems since you will interact with them and network, web apps, cloud computing, and more. Let's see some of the skills that an ethical hacker would have:

3.1. Operating Systems: since you will interact with operating systems, you need to understand how computers and machines work, the power user, system administration, and the possible threat that can infect this system. This course, Google IT Support, will help you gain these skills in just three months.

3.2. Python Language: you can't' be an ethical hacker without learning this programming language used a lot for creating hacking tools, automatic tasks, scanning the network, and more. This course called Python for Everybody will help you learn this language from a beginner to an intermediate level in just four months.

3.3. Web Technologies: an ethical hacker is a person who needs to know how the internal things work to get access to them. Web technologies such as HTML/CSS/JavaScript will help you learn how the web work and exploit its vulnerabilities. This course, HTML, CSS, and Javascript for Web Developers, will help you understand the basics in just a week.

3.4. Linux System: you will use the Linux system in your entire career as an ethical hacker. Hence, it is obvious to learn its architecture and use its commands and terminal more importantly. Most of the hacking tools work on Linux systems, and you can learn the basics of this system in this course called Learning Linux for LFCA in just two months.

3.5. Networking Security: everything is connected to the internet, which means it can be possibly hacked. A professional, ethical hacker needs to know how the network works and its security to design an excellent secure network and understand its vulnerabilities. You can take this course, Fundamentals of Computer Network Security, to learn about the networks and their security in just two months.

3.6. Database Skills: companies' data are stored in the database connected to the internet and can put the company in a real threat. It would be best if you learned how the databases work and how to design them, and this course, PostgreSQL for Everybody, will help you achieve this in two months.

4. Courses Recommendations

After getting some of the required skills in ethical hacking, you need now to enroll in some courses that will help you try to penetrate the systems, web apps, networks, and more so you can learn practical hacking and prepare yourself for the job interview:

4.1. IBM Cybersecurity Analyst: one of the best courses you can enroll in is Coursera to learn cyber security and penetration testing. You will see the cyber security roles, cyber security compliance & frameworks, network & database vulnerability, cyber threat intelligence, case studies, and more. Alternatviely you can also join Google's CyberSecurity certification as well. 

4.2. Learn Python & Ethical Hacking: another great course that will teach you the python language and ethical hacking simultaneously. You will learn to write code network scanning, packet sniffer, code injector, malware, keyloggers, web crawler, and more.

4.3. Metasploit: The Penetration Tester's Guide: you can't call yourself an ethical hacker without learning this fantastic tool for penetration testing and vulnerability discovery. You can hack almost anything with this tool like android & iOS phones, windows, Linux, websites, scanning systems & networks for vulnerabilities, and much more.

Conclusion

The attractiveness of this field is that it depends on your skills, meaning you don't need a degree if you want to get hired as an ethical hacker. It doesn't mean you don't go to college to get a degree in cyber security because you will learn a lot in school and the basics of everything in this field.