What is Required to Become a Master Ethical Hacker

As the hacker is among the most skilled information technology disciplines, it requires a wide knowledge of technologies and techniques. To truly be a proficient hacker, one must master many skills. Don't be discouraged if you don't have all the skills I list here, but rather use this list as a starting ground for what you need to study in the field of cyber security and master in the near future.

This is an overview list of required skills to enter the pantheon of this elite IT profession. I've broken the skills into three categories to help you go from one rung to the other more easily—fundamental, intermediate, and intangible skills.

NB: For Educational Purpose Only

The Fundamental Skills

These are the basics that every beginner should know. Once you have a good grasp on everything in this section, you can move into the intermediary level.

1 Basic Computer Skills

It probably goes without saying that to become a good hacker you need some basic computer skills. These skills go beyond the ability to create a Word document or cruise the Internet. You need to be able to use the command line in Windows and Linux, edit the registry and set up your networking parameters.

Many of these basic skills can be acquired in a basic computer skills course like A+.

2 Networking Skills

You need to understand the basics of networking, such as the following.

• DHCP
• NAT
• Subnetting
• IPv4
• IPv6
• Public v Private IP
• DNS
• Routers and switches
• VLANs
• OSI model
• MAC addressing
• ARP

As these technologies are often exploited, the better you understand how they work, the more successful you will be at securing them. Check out the posts on the blog below, they are very informative and cover some of the networking basics mentioned above.

• The Two Main Standards (TCP/IP)
• How Network Packets Travel Across the Web

3 Linux Skills

It is extremely critical to develop Linux skills to become a proficient hacker. Nearly all the tools used are developed for Linux and Linux gives us capabilities that we don't have using Windows.

4 Wireshark or Tcpdump

Wireshark is the most widely used sniffer/protocol analyzer, while tcpdump is a command line sniffer/protocol analyzer. Both can be extraordinarily useful in analyzing TCP/IP traffic and attacks. 

5 Virtualization

You need to become proficient in using one of the virtualization software packages such as VirtualBox or VMWare Workstation. Ideally, you need a safe environment to practice your hacks before you take them out in real world when authorized to pentest a system. A virtual environment provides you a safe environment to test and refine your hacks before going live with them.

6 Security Concepts & Technologies

A good hacker understands security concepts and technologies. The only way to overcome the roadblocks established by the security admins is to be familiar with them. The hacker must understand such things as PKI (public key infrastructure), SSL (secure sockets layer), IDS (intrusion detection system), firewalls, etc.

The beginner can acquire many of these skills in a basic security course such as Security+

7 Wireless Technologies

In order to be able to hack wireless and secure them you must first understand how it works. Things like the encryption algorithms (WEP, WPA, WPA2), the four-way handshake, and WPS. In addition, understanding such as things as the protocol for connection and authentication and the legal constraints on wireless technologies.

The Intermediate Skills

This is where things get interesting, and where you really get to feel for your capabilities as a cyber defense warrior. Knowing all of these will allow you to advance to more intuitive hacks where you are calling all the shots and also knowing exactly how to secure them. 

8 Scripting

To develop your own unique tools, you will need to become proficient at least in one of the scripting languages including the BASH shell. These should include Perl, Python, or Ruby. 

9 Database Skills

If you want to be able to proficiently hack databases, you will need to understand databases and how they work. This includes the SQL language. I would also recommend the mastery of one of the major DBMS's such SQL Server, Oracle, or MySQL.

10 Web Applications

Web applications are probably the most fertile ground for hackers in recent years. The more you understand about how web applications work and the databases behind them, the more successful you will be at hacking and patching them. In addition, you will likely come to understand how the black hat hackers use websites for phishing and other nefarious purposes. 

11 Forensics

The more you know about digital forensics, the better you can trace intruders who leaves footprints in a hacked system. 

12 Advanced TCP/IP

The beginner must understand TCP/IP basics, but to rise to the intermediate level, you must understand intimate details the TCP/IP protocol stack and fields. These include how each of the fields (flags, window, df, tos, seq, ack, etc.) in both the TCP and IP packet can be manipulated and used against the vulnerable systems to enable MitM attacks, among other things.

13 Cryptography

Although one doesn't need to be a cryptographer to be a good hacker, the more you understand the strengths and weaknesses of each cryptographic algorithm, the better the chances of defeating it. In addition, cryptography can used by a hacker to hide their activities and evade detection.

14 Reverse Engineering

Reverse engineering enables you to open a piece of malware and re-build it with additional features and capabilities. Just like in software engineering, no one builds a new application from scratch. Nearly every new exploit uses components from other existing malware.

In addition, reverse engineering enables the hacker to take an existing exploit and change its signature so that it can fly past IDS and AV detection. 

The Intangible Skills

Along with all these computer skills, the successful hacker must have some intangible skills. These include the following.

15 Think Creatively

There is ALWAYS a way to hack a system and many ways to accomplish it. A good hacker can think creatively of multiple approaches to the same hack.

16 Problem-Solving Skills

A hacker is always coming up against seemingly unsolvable problems. This requires that the hacker be accustomed to thinking analytically and solving problems. This often demands that the hacker diagnose accurately what is wrong and then break the problem down into separate components. This is one of those abilities that comes with many hours of practice.

17 Persistence

A hacker must be persistent. If you fail at first, try again. If that fails, come up with a new approach and try again. It is only with persistence that you will be able to hack legally the most secured systems.

I hope this gives you some guidelines as to what one need to study and master to ascend to the intermediate level of hacking in the world of cyber security.