The college that I\'m currently attending (masters) offers a ethical hacking cou
ID: 655897 • Letter: T
Question
The college that I'm currently attending (masters) offers a ethical hacking course, which I am currently enrolled in. I have been seriously considering dropping the course for several reasons.
1) The course until now has dealt with fluffier topics such as how to think like a hacker etc. and frameworks and specifications for the hacking process. It seems like it will get a little more hands on later on.
2) I feel like I can get equally good training (in this particular area) from an offensive-security type program rather than one from my university. It would also be cheaper to go that route.
I was hoping to get rigorous, hands on experience in the field and am assuming that this would be more beneficial than what I am currently getting. Instead of this course I would probably take a cryptology course a different semester. My main concentration is going to be Artificial Intelligence and this seems like it would be related. To be clear, my issue is not learning theoretical information, it's learning theoretical information in a course that I'm assuming is supposed to be hands on.
Explanation / Answer
"Ethical Hacking" is in itself a wide topic, and not always practical in nature. Depending on the focus of the course, it is valid to cover Ethical Hacking from different angles:
1. managing a Red Team
2. developing policy
3. understanding threats in order to devise defences
4, methodologies and frameworks
Your Questions:
1) As a former educator myself, I can understand the validity of focusing on the above topics instead of practical hacking because the technical skills can be quickly outdated, irrelevant in certain environments, and easily taught and practiced depending on the student's needs. The "fluffier" aspects are what I would expect someone to know when coming out of a Master's program.
2) I don't think a University degree that includes hacking will be any more respected than any other education. What will matter is your demonstrated skill, not your training. On an interview for a web app hacking job, I'd be asking you questions about how you handled Damn Vulnerable Web App, and not what your GPA was.
3) When it comes down to discovering your own personal curriculum for practical Ethical Hacking, you need to ask yourself what you want to learn: web applications, network, operating systems, social engineering, etc. These are all huge topics and you might need to dip into each before you can come to your own conclusions.