Career prospects in ethical hacking and required skills set

Career prospects in ethical hacking and required skills set

I am doing BTech in computer science but I have a preference to be an Ethical Hacker. What is the scope of being an ethical hacker in India and abroad? Also mention the skill-set required to be an Ethical Hacking Programmer.

Increased usage of internet in India has increased the demand for ethical hackers in the country. It has become a rapidly growing career in India and is expected to raise more in demand in years to come. Last year ethical hacking was estimated to be a US$ 3.8 billion industry in the US alone. India requires producing 77,000 ethical hackers every year whereas we are producing only 15,000 in a year. This very clearly means a good scope for ethical hacking as a career.

Primary required skill is the ability to write programmes in many programming languages like C, C++, Perl, Python, and Ruby. For those working with web applications, Microsoft .NET and PHP are essential. Knowledge of assembly language is also necessary for those who want to analyse disassembled binaries. Knowledge of a variety of operating systems like Microsoft Windows, various versions of Linux, etc. is crucial. You need to have a good hand at various network devices, including switches, routers and firewalls. You shall need to have a basic understanding of TCP/IP protocols such as SMTP, ICMP and HTTP. Along with technical skills, an ethical hacker needs excellent soft skills. Your adaptability should be excellent since you never know what kind of a problem you will have to deal with.

After finishing graduation, you can join a separate program for ethical hacking which is provided in many institutes in India.