Top 7 Skills Required to Become a Professional Ethical Hacker

Before discussing the skills of an Ethical Hacker, let’s have a look at “Who actually Ethical Hackers are and what they do?”. Because answering this question will help you in getting the reason behind every required skill of an Ethical Hacker. So without wasting much time, let’s start.

Who are Ethical Hackers and What they do?

Ethical Hackers are the persons who deal with the security side of organizations. Their task is to test organizations’ computer system security to make sure that the systems are safe and secure from the Black Hat Hackers. They perform these security tests by performing real-time attacks on organization computer systems.

Keep in mind that these attacks are performed only after taking proper written permissions from the owners of that organization. Now let’s talk about their skills.

Top 7 Skills of an Ethical Hacker

1. Computer Networking

Mostly Hacking Attacks take place over the Internet. There is a big chance of getting hacked when you are connected to the internet, but this doesn’t mean that we should stop using the internet. That’s why there are ethical hackers to protect us on the internet.

And this is the reason why an ethical hacker should have a good knowledge of computer networking.

2. Programming Languages

An Understanding of Programming Languages can help you in creating your own tools for Ethical Hacking. You can automate lots of your tasks to save time. Programming skills can also help you in understanding the working of hacking tools made by other Ethical Hackers and use them efficiently.

Examples of some top programming languages for Hackers are:

• Python
• JavaScript
• SQL
• C++
• Perl, etc.

3. Operating System

While operating any smart device, the software you first interact with is the operating system. So a basic knowledge of popular operating systems is required.

But you need to master one operating system mainly, i.e. Linux, because this is the operating system that is mainly on most of the web servers. So, Linux skills are a must.

4. Cryptography

Let’s breakdown this term, “Crypto = Secret” and “Graphy = Writing”.

Converting normal texts to non-readable text is what this field deals with. A hacker can help in encrypting sensitive communications by different cryptography techniques.

5. Database Skills

The database is where all data of an organization are stored. Ever thought when you upload a photo or video on Instagram, where does it go? The answer is the “Database” of Instagram. And even your Password is stored there.

So, these all are the reason that why the Database should be secured and for securing a database, hackers should have Database Skills.

6. Web Development

Imagine a situation when you are asked to test a website or web apps and you don’t have web dev skills, what will you do?
I think now you got the idea that why this skill is important for an ethical hacker.
There are some more reasons, but this explanation is enough.

7. Problem Solving

As an Ethical Hacker, you have to deal with lots of problems, lots and lots of cyberattacks, new security loopholes, and much more.

So, this skill also becomes an important part of the skillsets of an ethical hacker.