Cybersecurity education has more variety than you thought it had, and we admit that it is a little challenging (not impossible though, even laymen can learn it from scratch!) to learn the art of battling the hacking world out there. But why should it be hard to take the first step, right? I.e. choosing from a wide buffet of cybersecurity courses. Who needs extra stress in life? Which is why we decided to write this post.
This career guide is dedicated to all those clueless souls who are wondering where to start their cybersecurity career from, or which course to take next in their pursuit of becoming a world-class cybersecurity specialist.
First things first, everyone knows safety measures are preventive as well as curative. Similarly, the arena of cybersecurity courses is divided into three major domains:
1. Defensive
Protecting systems from cyber threats using the let-us-use-our-Captain-America-shields approach
2. Offensive
Protecting systems from cyber threats using the where-the-hell-is-it-leaking-from approach
3. Forensic
Applying recovery and response mechanisms using the we-got-screwed-now-what-to-do approach
Let’s deep dive into the various cybersecurity courses that are offered by these three rich domains.
Part One: Defensive
1. Certified Secure Computer User
Go for this course if you care about privacy and want to do whatever you can to become a safe computer user. We guarantee your myths will be busted when you learn how real cyber threats are and what they are made of. In this course, you will learn:
- Cyber threats and attacks, like phishing, trojans, backdoor, etc.
- Cyber safety methods, like firewall for starters
- Network security, cloud security and social networking security
- Data recovery, data backup and more
Course Length: 16 hours
Best suited for: Teenagers. No prior knowledge needed!
Where can you go next: Go for advanced cybersecurity courses and launch your career
Check out Certified Secure Computer User in detail.
2. Certified Network Defender
Want to learn the science behind the art of network security? Go for this course to learn how networks actually work and how you can defend them against intruders. In this course, you will learn:
- Network operations
- Traffic monitoring
- Security tools
- Policy designing
- Incident defence & response
Course Length: 40 hours
Best suited for: Network and IT admins
Where can you go next: Start working in a company as a CND professional.
Check out Certified Network Defender in detail.
Part Two: Offensive
3. Introductory Course for Ethical Hacking
This course is specially designed by the experts at Tech Brewery, considering that it is tough for students to crack their way into ethical hacking without any technical background. In this course, you will learn:
- Computing terminology
- Internet security, cloud security, network and OS security
- Cybersecurity frameworks
- Phases of ethical hacking
Course Length: 30 hours
Best suited for: Freshers who can’t tell a backdoor from a frontdoor.
Where can you go next: You can take the CEH course or any other cybersecurity course like CHFI and ECSS.
Check out Introductory Course for Ethical Hacking in detail.
4. Certified Ethical Hacker (Master)
This is your go to cybersecurity course to become a trained ethical hacker. If you get a kick out of legally breaking into secured systems and pointing out all the wrong things with them, then you have hit the right spot. In this bestselling course, you will learn:
- Scanning
- Enumeration
- Vulnerability analysis
- Exploitation
- Security mechanisms
Course Length: 40 hours
Best suited for: Complete freshers
Where can you go next: Start working at companies or take the ECSA and LPT course.
Check out Certified Ethical Hacker (Master) in detail.
5. EC-Council Certified Security Analyst
After you learn to ethically hack your way into machines, you can take this course to solidify your pentesting skills and knowledge by getting a guided practical training of a wide variety of tools and techniques on different networks, OS and systems emulating the real world. You’ll learn (via iLabs):
- Penetration testing tools
- Vulnerabilities
- Exploits on different environments
- Practising attacks
- Pentest report writing
Course Length: 40 hours
Best suited for: CEH professionals
Where can you go next: Start working at companies or take the ECSS and LPT course.
Check out EC-Council Certified Security Analyst in detail.
6. Licensed Penetration Tester (Master)
The Advanced Penetration Testing Course is meant to bring out the be(a)st in you. We recommend all those to apply for this course, who are ready to go through hell and back to become invincible. Fair warning, this is a rigorous module with a painstaking exam, designed to separate the wheat from the chaff. In this course you will learn:
- Scanning and enumeration
- Finding vulnerabilities
- Pivoting between networks
- Using web shells
- Writing custom exploit codes
Course Length: 40 hours
Best suited for: CEH Masters and ESCA professionals
Where can you go next: Work in a company as a valuable penetration tester.
Check out Licensed Penetration Tester (Master) in detail.
Part Three: Forensic
7. EC-Council Certified Incident Handler
Anyone who is more inclined towards the post-attack police work can join this course. This will train you in the art of incident handling and saving companies fortune and fame.
In this course, you’ll learn:
- Mitigating losses
- Recovering from an attack
- Framing policies
- Process planning
- Protection from future incidents
Course Length: 24 hours
Best suited for: Mid and high level Cybersecurity professionals
Where can you go next: Work in a company as a certified incident handler.
Check out EC-Council Certified Incident Handler in detail.
8. Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator
This is the favourite cybersecurity course among all the Sherlock Holmes out there. Apply for this course if you love investigation, and collecting evidence. The detective in you will be thrilled to learn how you can track the digital footsteps of a hacker and sue him/her in court. In this course, you’ll learn:
- Responding to incidents
- Cyber forensic protocols
- Collecting evidence
- Preparing detailed reports
- Post breach analysis
- Recovering lost data
Course Length: 40 hours
Best suited for: IT professionals, police and military officials.
Where can you go next: Work in a company as a cyber forensic investigator.
Check out Computer Hacking Forensic Investigator in detail.
Part Four: All rounder
9. EC-Council Certified Security Specialist
Go for this course if you want to begin your career in the cybersecurity field. This one hell of a course is designed for the i-want-to-know-everything people. In this course, you’ll cover a great length of topics while diving into the depth to understand the fundamentals of everything. You’ll learn:
- Security threats
- Security techniques
- Hacking and pentesting
- Network and computer security (firewall, IDS, VPN etc.)
- Computer forensics
- Cryptography
- Data backup and recovery
- Steganography
- Digital investigation
- Report writing
Course Length: 40 hours
Best suited for: Beginners
Where can you go next: Start working in a company or take any other cybersecurity course.
Check out EC-Council Certified Security Specialist in detail.
We hope you are now able to make a better and more informed decision to start/continue your cybersecurity career. If there is any question you might have, we encourage you to ask it in the comments section or you could also write us a mail at sales@techbrewery.co.in. (Just post a comment, it’s so much easier!)
Oh, and you could head out to our Career Mentoring forum to connect with your kind and ask a question about whatever’s brewing in your mind.
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