Ethical hacker, the new breed of IT profession

Forget about those different Cisco network certifications or HP systems administrator certifications. If you want a huge bump to your pay scale, it’s time to take IT Security certifications and be an ethical hacker. With cyber security going to be important in the near future, you want to be ready to jump in while it’s early.

According to a research by Foote Partners, those IT certifications that were “hot” before like Cisco’s and Citrix’s are having a constant decrease in value. So what IT certifications whose pay is going up? Usually security ones which includes being a Certified Ethical Hacker.

An ethical hacker is a computer scientist that works as a security specialist, forensic investigator, or network defense architect for corporations. In 2007, the top 50 percent of certified ethical hackers earned between $97,970 and $123,900.

In this time of economic crisis, companies are getting smart in investing in skills and technologies that will not only tactically see them through the recession, but also ensure that they remain unscathed or become stronger when all is over.

EC-Council provides online classes that they call iClass to get security training on your schedule, and this includes an ethical hacker certification. They offer courses on Security Fundamentals, Ethical Hacking, Penetration Testing, Computer Forensics, Disaster Recovery and Secure Programming.