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What skillset I need to become an ethical hacker? [Education] [Times of India](Times of India Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) Question: I am going to complete my graduation in computer science in 2012. The campus recruitment is in progress. My field of interest is internet security. I would like to become an ethical hacker. Would I be able to get into this field through campus placement or would I have to try off-campus. What certificate courses should I opt for? Do also tell me the scope of this field. - Srinivas P V Answer: As computing becomes all pervasive, the field of computer security is rapidly growing. One of the aspects of this area is the field of penetration testing or what is commonly known as ethical hacking. The first step towards meeting your career objective is to join a company that provides you opportunities to work in the field of information security. You could do this by joining the traditional IT services companies like TCS, Infosys, Accenture, Wipro etc, who have service offerings around information security; they also need this for their internal requirements. The other option would be to join companies that specialize in information security - either on the product or service side like VeriSign, McAfee, Citrix, Novell etc. The latter set of companies are very selective about hiring freshers whereas it may be relatively easier to join the former set (however, the issue here could be getting a posting in the information security department as freshers are not given a choice, most of the times). Next, you should target getting a certification and the most popular one is offered by ECCouncil (www.eccouncil.org) - Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH). Keep in mind that the EC Council mandates a minimum relevant work experience of 2 years before you can apply for CEH, so the focus for you right now should be to get deep into the various aspects of security at the company you join (campus/off campus doesn't matter) and a precursor to that would be to dirty your hands in core technology so that you know the vulnerabilities associated with designing, building and deploying computer systems. Question: I've completed my BE in computer science in 2011. I'm confused about what to do next. I'm interested in doing a mobile application course. Please tell me which is the best mobile application course and the best institute for it in Bangalore. - Akshata Answer: As an application developer in any field, you should be aware that for you to provide optimal value to the end users, it is not about technology alone. Technology needs to be applied under a defined process (methods and systems that bring about predictability and consistency of outcomes) and for the target domain, that is, the industry or functional area like telecom, banking, insurance. Besides these skills, you should focus on picking up the relevant life skills like critical thinking, professionalism, dealing with ambiguity and change etc in order to apply the first set of skills efficiently and effectively. Keep in mind that technology demand changes quite rapidly and most of the time, as a fresher/junior resource, your company will want you to work in areas where they have business as compared to where they do not. If you know how the magic sauce of technology, process, domain and life skills work, it will serve you a life time - it is like learning how to catch a fish rather than feasting on one given by someone else. Now, to become a good mobile applications developer you should try and learn/understand the core technology that drives most of the mobile platforms like Apple, Android, Symbian etc, the OEMs' (like Samsung, Nokia etc) requirements and constraints, pick up aspects of the wireless operator domain as applied to the operations support systems (OSS) and business support systems (BSS), the relevant process, for example, agile/iterative development methodology. You may not find a single training provider offering you all of these and may have to go with a split approach. Answers by Navin Kumar, CEO, iPrimed Education Solutions (c) 2011 Bennett, Coleman & Company Limited |