hi

[gambetta8888]

Hello

Just joined, so don't know if I am posting this query in the right forum or not. My apology if its in the wrong forum. I just wanted to ask what kind of qualifications, certifications are required to become a Certified Ethical Hacker. Can a person with absolutely no computer background become a Ethical Hacker, If yes, what courses would you recommend? Someone suggested I should do CEH and CHF/I and LPT. Do you think its enough to get a job in this field? Look forward to hearing from you all.

Thank you in advance.
Sincere Regards

[maboroshi]

Hello in my opinion CEH is the worse thing to spend your money on. Especially if you have no experience with computers. People here have recommended CISCO Certs as well as LPI for Certs that would benefit you're career more in this field. But you will need more than a basic understanding of computers.

I recommend spending one to two years (or more) just researching computers eg programming, networking, hardware before undertaking an education or certification. Education in a standard school will only take you so far and IMO won't teach you what you need to know to be effective in this area of study.

My advice get some books and start reading as much as you can, or you can take the CEH and think you know what you are doing with out really knowing and hope the systems you end up pen testing don't fall under attack.

My two cents

Self education through constant study

[bad_brain]

right. CEH is bullshit. everything that has "hacker" in it will not get you a job at all, in opposite, and additionally the stuff you learn in CEH is pointless...because it only scratches on the surface, you don't know the real basics you need for a proper understanding of what you are actually doing.

I also recommend LPIC. it's THE most valuable certificate imo, because you don't simply get it because you wrote your name and date properly like CEH (I could train a monkey to make CEH in 2 months). LPIC is hard, because you need to learn a lot and also need to understand things...good point is: it's cheap. 100 bucks or so for the exam (there are 2 exams for each LPIC level). if you are willing to learn and REALLY mean it it serious go for it, it's worth the effort.

[gambetta8888]

Please delete this one if duplicate.

Thank you Maboroshi and BadBrain for your suggestions. I hundred percent agree with both of you. I may have searched about half a dozen institutes but all of them, without exception, gave me information that was both misleading but conflicting.

Maboroshi, it sounds a good idea and I have already started working in that direction. I mean buying books for self study. Its the best way to learn stuff. I wanted to do training and certification in order to be able to get a job and still planning to do it. I started with looking for CEH but after I came to this forum I realized I was on a wrong path.

Someone has asked me to go for CCNA, MCITP and ECH. This I have been assured will get me a job (administrator's job they claim). He says it will take two and a half months and after that they will get me a job. This way he says I will not only get hands on experience but will also be able to go for other certifications. I am going to check if they got LPIC too and I am going to do it along with other CISCO certifications once I start working. Going to dig more unless I am satisfied I have taken the right path.

BB when I mentioned LPIC to the guy who was earlier selling me CEH and CHFI he was like dumb founded. I shared the opinions given by you guys with him and he realized I am not going to be an easy prey so he backed off. No more calls from him so far. I am glad I came here and I thank both of you for your kind help. It saved both my time and money.

2 Cents? When I think about you guys taking time out, reading a stranger's query and then responding to it I realize its priceless.

Thank you kindly
God Bless, Take Care

[bad_brain]

"CEH" is the "hacker's black book" of certificates...

if you decide to go for LPIC look around for LUG's in your area (Linux user groups), they often have special LPIC groups where people meet to learn together.

and thanks, you're welcome...

[gambetta8888]

Great, I will surely look for them. LPIC I am finding quite interesting. I have already started reading about it. Seems like not gonna be easy but then I will go slow and steady. No hurry. Thank you once again. God Bless and Take Care!

[maboroshi]

No worries!

Other certs to consider are A+ (Pretty standard) Network+ any Microsoft ones. If your goal is to be a Server Admin, then A+ and Network+ will help you get careers in that area. LPIC is good and will help you with Linux Servers, been a while since I have read any books on Microsoft Servers but I am sure they have certs on that.

But honestly to be effective you should remember that this industry is constantly changing and you need to do tons of self teaching to be effective. Taking a certificate course will most likely help you get the fundamentals and maybe teach you the building blocks to learn more.

And yea remember what bad_brain said NEVER put Hacker on your resume.

*cheers

Mabo

[ph0bYx]

Quite correct what mabs says, people tend to think about the word "hacker" as a bad thing because of the constant exploitation by the public media of that term.
Also it would be helpful to know what areas you're interested so that we can try and guide you more precisely.

Also, are there any credible certificates for the programming and/or algorithms area that you guys know of by any chance?

Oh yeah, and welcome to Suck-o!
If you stick long enough you'll turn into a good looking blonde with big boobs

[bad_brain]

If you stick long enough you'll turn into a good looking blonde with big boobs

LOL!

[DNR]

Gambetta - we appreciate the detailed, honest post. Welcome.

How you use your knowledge will define your ethics.

DNR