About ten years ago, I got to know a guy, Daniel, who spent a lot of his time trying to hack into various websites and computer systems. He said that he wants to test his skills. I warned him that even if he is intelligent enough to do so, he shouldn’t mess up the systems or websites but just drop the companies a note letting them know of the security holes discovered. I told Daniel that he shouldn’t misuse his skills and that it could land him into trouble with the law.

I subsequently learned that although hackers carry a bad name, there is something called Ethical Hacking. These people, probably certified hackers, are employed to continually check the IT Security of companies and websites to ensure there are no security holes or vulnerabilities.

Today, I got to know that hackers like my friend, Daniel, could enroll in programs to be a Certified Ethical Hacker.

EC-Council offers iClass that includes the following modules:

-Security Fundamentals
-Ethical Hacking
-Penetration Testing
-Computer Forensics

-Disaster Recovery
-Secure Programming

The best thing is that all these courses could be studied online at the student’s convenience without having to travel.

EC Council certification is recognized by the National Security Agency and this is what employers who are concerned about their network security would be looking for.