11 Best Ethical Hacking and Cybersecurity Courses (With Certification)

Looking for ways to grab a high-rewarding job in the field of ethical hacking and cyber security? You are in the right place.

In this article, we are listing the best online ethical hacking courses for you to start learning the concepts of hacking and penetration.

Filter through your requirements using the details we have enumerated below for each course, such as the course topics, duration, ratings, pros, and cons.

Pick the right course that suits you and start learning in no time!

The Importance of Ethical Hacking

The need for an ethical hacker will always be high in demand in the cyber world due to constantly evolving threats and attacks to breach cyber security. New ways of attacking and assessing risks are constantly evolving in the IT world.

Hence, no compromise should be made in the case of data security. A skilled, ethical hacker who knows the cyber security landscape well enough to safeguard the system and prevent attacks is like a safe armor for an organization.

With the help of an online course, you can learn the concepts of cybersecurity and elevate your career to that of an ethical hacker. This list of ethical hacking courses we have compiled includes a few beginner-friendly courses as well.

Scroll down for information on a few of the best online ethical hacking courses.

Best Online Ethical Hacking Courses

1. Cybersecurity Attacks and Defence Fundamentals Specialisation [Coursera]

This Coursera ethical hacking course is a perfect way to kickstart learning the concepts of cybersecurity. This course suits a beginner and a professional with intermediate experience in cybersecurity alike. Through this course, you will acquire the fundamental, hands-on skills to handle common cybersecurity issues in the real world.

This specialization consists of 3 courses in total. Starting with cybersecurity fundamentals, you will learn how to protect critical data, networks, and digital assets. By the end of this course, you will learn enough skills to specialize in multiple areas of cybersecurity, such as penetration testing, security consulting, auditing, and system and network administration.

Topics Covered:

• Ethical hacking essentials (EHE)
• Network defense essentials (NDE)
• Digital Forensics Essentials (DFE)

Duration: Approximately 5 months

Rating: 4.7/5

Nature of the Course: Paid

Certificate Provision: Yes

Pros: Gain hands-on experience in cyber security

Cons: NIL

2. IBM Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate [Coursera]

A professional certificate will increase the value of your resume when you reach out for a job. This Coursera course on ethical hacking offers you an IBM professional certificate upon course completion. This course will give you insights into various cybersecurity analyst tools, including data protection, endpoint protection, SIEM, and systems and network fundamentals.

Industry-specific and open-source cybersecurity tools will be introduced to you in this online ethical hacking course to prepare you for real-life challenges. According to today’s cybersecurity situations, you can learn about threat intelligence topics and how to solve security vulnerabilities in real-time.

Topics Covered:

• Introduction to cybersecurity tools and cyber attacks
• Cybersecurity roles, processes, and operating system security
• Cybersecurity compliance framework and system administration
• Network security and database vulnerabilities
• Cybersecurity capstones: Breach response case studies
• IBM cybersecurity analyst assessment

Duration: 3 months

Rating: 4.6/5

Nature of the Course: Paid

Certificate Provision: Yes

Pros: Part of the Bachelor of Applied Arts and Sciences

Cons: NIL

3. Ethical Hacking for Beginners [Simplilearn]

If you are new to the world of ethical hacking and are looking for a course to start learning about the fundamental concepts, here ends your search! By taking up this course, you will learn numerous concepts such as database skills, cryptography skills, Linux skills, trojans backdoors and countermeasures, IDS firewalls and honeypots, network packet analysis, mobile and web technologies, etc.

This course will also introduce you to advanced hacking skills. If you are looking forward to becoming a professional in the domain of cybersecurity, this course is then this course is perfect. This online ethical hacking course is beginner-friendly and will introduce you to various techniques to explore cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Topics Covered:

6. Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking [Cybrary]

What could be more exciting than learning ethical hacking directly from a professional, ethical hacker? By taking up this course offered by Cybrary, you will be mentored by Leo Dregier. Leo will walk you through 19 modules that will start with the introduction of advanced ethical hacking topics. This course provides intermediate-level learning to the students.

You will learn about a variety of cyber attack types after taking this course, including password hacking, DoS, SQL injection, social engineering, session hijacking, and more! One of the expected outcomes of this course is to prepare students to acquire hands-on ethical hacking skills in order to be industry-ready.

Topics Covered:

• Intrusion detection
• Policy creation
• Footprinting and reconnaissance with social engineering and Google
• DDoS Attacks
• Buffer Overflows

Duration: 7 hours and 6 minutes

Rating: 4.7/5

Nature of the Course: Free

Certificate Provision: Yes

Pros: One of the best free courses to start a career in penetration testing

Cons: Advanced-level topics not covered

7. Complete Ethical Hacking Bootcamp 2023: Zero to Mastery [Udemy]

If you are someone interested in becoming a professional, ethical hacker or are looking forward to learning ethical hacking online to protect your personal systems, this course is for you. No prior knowledge of cyber security is required to take this course. From introducing you to the very basic fundamentals of ethical hacking to getting you ready to set up your own hacking lab, this course is an A-Z learning opportunity in all ways!

One of the main perks of taking this course is that you will handle practical sessions and learning theories. It is the best way to apply your skills to various real-world scenarios. You will start by creating a hacking lab to secure your machine throughout the learning process and slowly dive into various concepts of ethical hacking.

Topics Covered:

• Hacking lab
• Optional: Python 101
• Reconnaissance
• Scanning
• Vulnerability analysis
• Exploitation and gaining access
• Post exploitation
• Website penetration testing
• Wifi cracking
• Social engineering

Duration: 28.5 hours

Rating: 4.6/5

Nature of the Course: Paid

Certificate Provision: Yes

Pros: Best Bootcamp for beginners that goes through maximum concepts of ethical hacking

Cons: Some users have commented that the course is out of date

8. Cybersecurity in Healthcare [Coursera]

This Coursera course on ethical hacking focuses on cybersecurity issues in the healthcare sector. The course will introduce you to the challenges faced by the healthcare sector after digitization. You will learn how cybercriminals have focused more on the healthcare sector and why cyber security has to be tightened there.

After this, you will be learning about specific threats, handling them, social engineering, and hacking. The following module after this will discuss how organizational culture affects cyber security and more. If you are interested in the sectors of health care and ethical hacking alike, this course will be a good place to start your learning.

Topics Covered:

• Cybersecurity in Healthcare: technology, data, and human behavior
• Social aspects of cyber security: social engineering and social media
• Data Breaches, hackers, and Malware in Healthcare
• Cyber hygiene: practices to improve cyber security
• Cyberculture: Creating a Positive Environment to Practise Cybersecurity

Duration: 15 hours

Rating: 4.6/5

Nature of the Course: Paid

Certificate Provision: Yes

Pros: Recognise and prevent cyber threats to Healthcare

Cons: Nil

9. Website Hacking / Penetration Testing

With the help of 90+ videos in this course by Udemy, you will be able to dive from being a beginner to a professional-level ethical hacker. This course has been created assuming that you have no prior knowledge. Hence, you will be led to all the necessary advanced-level topics after providing you with all the fundamentals to start with.

By the end of this course, you will be able to identify issues with websites and protect websites from attacks like professional, ethical hackers! You will be learning a handful of concepts, such as gathering necessary information about the target website, discovering, exploiting, and mitigating vulnerabilities, bypassing security, etc.

Topics Covered:

• Information gathering
• Discovery, exploitation, and mitigation
• Post exploitation

Duration: 10 hours

Rating: 4.5/5

Nature of the Course: Paid

Certificate provision: yes

Pros: The course follows a very effective pattern that starts with theory and ends with practicals

Cons: According to some reviewers, the concepts discussed are basic

10. Become an Ethical Hacker [LinkedIn Learning]

What could be more productive than learning ethical hacking concepts from the industry experts themselves? This online ethical hacking course provided by LinkedIn is curated by professional, ethical hackers. Because this is a beginner-friendly course, anyone with no prior knowledge can enroll and begin learning about cybersecurity concepts.

You will be learning how to identify vulnerabilities in an organization’s infrastructure and network. Following that, you will be taking necessary measures using the knowledge acquired to prevent and defend against possible attacks. You will also learn about penetration testing, an important skill for an ethical hacker.

Topics Covered:

• Kali Linux
• Enumeration
• Scanning networks
• Session hijacking
• Common threats to systems
• Risk identification
• Countermeasures implementation
• Reconnaissance and footprinting

Duration: 30 hours

Rating: NA

Nature of the Course: Paid

Certificate provision: yes

Pros: One of the best courses to prepare for the ethical hacker exam

Cons: None

11.Cyber Security Basics: A Hands-On Approach [edx]

This online cybersecurity course is brought to you by the professors of Universidad Carlos III de Madrid. By taking up this course, you will gain the skills to learn about various hacking techniques, identify cyber security issues, and safeguard systems from attacks. The instructors will teach you everything you must know about the cybersecurity landscape and features.

By the end of this course, you will be able to manage and monitor attacks like a professional using the various tools introduced to you. In addition, topics like cyber forensics, vulnerability testing, and management will also be discussed in this course.

Topics Covered:

• Reverse engineering
• Cybersecurity landscape
• Network cyber security
• attacks—management and monitoring
• Malware and advanced persistent threats
• Computer forensics
• Vulnerability testing and management

Duration: 6 weeks

Rating: NA

Nature of the Course: Paid

Certificate Provision: Yes

Pros: Learn ethical hacking from top-tier university professors

Cons: Nil

Conclusion

The number of benefits an ethical hacker offers to our society is numerous, especially in this data-driven era. Hence, the demand for skilled-ethical hackers will only rise exponentially in the coming years. With the right amount of practical skill set and real-world knowledge, one can easily become a highly-paid ethical hacker.

As the domain of cyber security is highly challenging and evolving, being a hacker, you will have to constantly upskill yourself and get used to new trends.

Hence, the word ‘boring’ is never meant for this job. The above-listed online ethical hacking courses will be helpful for you to learn the professional skills to be a hacker and grab a well-rewarding career.

Frequently Asked Questions

What Are the Basic Requirements to Become an Ethical Hacker?

Most ethical hacking jobs will expect their candidates to have a bachelor’s degree in computer science or in any cybersecurity-related field. However, this is not a strict criterion if the candidate who is applying for the job has a very high knowledge of cyber security and ethical hacking.

What Is the Average Salary of an Ethical Hacker?

A certified ethical hacker can expect a salary of around $50000–$10000 per year. This can go up to $20,000 a year if the person is rich in experience.

What Are the Responsibilities of an Ethical Hacker?

Ethical Hackers are professionals who shoulder multiple responsibilities adhering to the law. What makes an ethical hacker different from other hackers is the part that their actions are aimed only at positive outcomes.