Certified Ethical Hacker via Self Study 63
ddonzal writes "In his latest column for EH-Net, wireless hacking guru, Dan Hoffman, offers up his experience of attaining the CEH credential (Certified Ethical Hacker). Great read with fantastic advice for budding ethical hackers out there."
BS (Score:4, Funny)
No mention of ethics. (Score:5, Funny)
In fact, even if you were questioned about the ethics of hacking, you might lie. An unethical person would.
So it's just a fancy but ultimately meaningless name then. "Certified Hacker" would suffice.
But do you really need the word "Certified" on a certificate? Isn't that redundant? It's obvious you're certified if you're brandishing a certificate.
So you could just as well put "Hacker" instead.
I don't think many employers want to employ a hacker. They're criminals!
I don't think I'll be taking this course.
The illusion of ethics... (Score:2, Funny)
In fact, many people are clueless to the fact that the Team Rocket motto starts out with a statement of ethics that Jessie and James stick to, to thier detriment as they comm
Re:The illusion of ethics... (Score:2)
Only on slashdot.......
Re:The illusion of ethics... (Score:2)
http://www.poetry.com/Publications/display.asp?ID
*snorts loudly
Not my best work... (Score:1)
I am starting to put poetry and poetry related topics at http://hackwrench2.blogspot.com/ [blogspot.com]
Re:The illusion of ethics... (Score:3, Interesting)
>>effectively, that is, when given a question about ethics, they might want to lie, but then
>>they wouldn't know what lie is the "ethical" choice.
Probably a result of reading too much classical Greek philosophy. Socrates and Plato considered ethical truths to be self-evident, and as self-evident as other truths. As in, if someone explains to you the meaning of right action, your consciousness will b
"real" men don't exist (Score:1)
Re:"real" men don't exist (Score:2)
But "manly" is a real adjective, therefore Pokemon do not exist.
Re:The illusion of ethics... (Score:3, Insightful)
English: if I
Maybe you should read Plato and Aristotle again (Score:2, Interesting)
Except Socrates considered to be no truths self-evident except that he did not know any truths. If we assume that the early Platonic dialogues are accurate portrayals of Socrates (which a significant minority of scholars would dispute) then we have a picture of Socrates as a man who did not know what virtue is or if it could be taught and went around critically questioning everyone who claimed that it co
Re:Maybe you should read Plato and Aristotle again (Score:2)
In the case of the Glaucon, Socrates claims that evil acts harm ones own body, so while one can
Two quick words (Score:1)
Second, the Republic is one of the later Socratic dialogues. It is almost universally acknowledged to be putting forth the views of Plato rather than Socrates. T
Re:Two quick words (Score:2)
But even in the dialogues in which he just calls everything into question, you can sometimes draw a conclusion of what Socrates is trying to get at. Even if he doesn't come out and say it.
The reason I said that they thought it was self-evident was because when one ac
Re:Two quick words (Score:1)
Except for the most part it isn't all that difficult to distinguish between the two. On some points, yes, but on most things, it's pretty easy to see where Plato's idealism is being shoehorned into Socrates' mouth. The usual convention is to ``Plato's Socrates'' or ``Plato's charicterization of Soctrates'' when referring to Plato's depiction of Socrates in his later dialogues,
What an odd assertion! (Score:1)
I have to question just how familiar with the field of ethics you are. Most ethicists understand that there are multiple families of ethical theories. A brief introductory class to ethics will most likely introduce one to ethical theories based on individual virtue (think classical theories such as Aristotle), deontology (duty ethics epitomized by Kant), consequences of actions (such various forms of ut
Re:What an odd assertion! (Score:1)
That is a false dichotomy (Score:1)
Re:No mention of ethics. (Score:1)
Does anyone else find it funny that the line running at the bottom of
The first rule of ethical hacking... (Score:2, Funny)
Re:The first rule of ethical hacking... (Score:1)
You would! (Score:1)
The ethics of hacking (Score:5, Interesting)
Don't get me wrong, teaching information is by default never wrong. Knowledge is power. Information is necessary to keep up the fight against the black hats. To abuse the quote from a different group, if information is outlawed, only outlaws will have it.
But I doubt that you can teach or even "certify" ethics. You have them, or your don't.
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:4, Insightful)
Ethics are not always absolute. Whether an action is ethical or not can depend on context, personal beliefs and so on. You can debate ethics as part of a course of education, or as regards a particular area of life.
For instance, you might say it is unethical to hack someone's computer without their knowledge. But if the ethical hacker in question works for a law enforcement agency, and is performing the hack legally with all the relevant oversight in order to gain evidence of or to prevent an illegal act, then you could argue whether it's ethical or not.
You were more correct at the start of your post when you said whether people apply their skills ethically or not is up to them. That's the real issue here - just doing a course in ethical hacking means that the person presumably has knowledge of the ethics issues involved. It doesn't tell you a thing about what they personally believe, or will do with their new-found hacking skill...
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:2)
That is exactly what's wrong with "certifying" someone as an "ethical" anything. Ethics are completely subjective, and if my personal ethics dictate that such things are okay to do I could be the standard Hollywood identity thief/virus spreader/nuke launcher and still happily and honestly call myself an "ethical hacker."
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:1)
I know how to use nmap - its got a man page, if your employer or its thicko hr rep (that needs a certificate) to say "I CAN USE NMAP!!!!" then how ethical is that hr rep, and company.
An ethical con ?, like you say - ethical hackers can go unethical - so how ethical is a ethical hacker? was Dan Cuthbert (google it) an unethical hacker because he didnt have a certificate ?
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:2)
You're kidding, right?
So you think that, for instance, Ken Alibek should publicize his anthrax formula for all to see?
Your view is short sighted (Score:1)
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:2)
Security by obscurity doesn't work. Someone WILL find it out. And the chances are good that it's more likely to be a "bad" person than a "good" one.
So what is gained by obscuring information?
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:2)
Thanks!
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:2)
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:2)
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:2)
Think about it this way. You want something from somebody. If you threaten them by saying you have their CC info, they are going to need to take action to prevent you from making use of it, which you could do at any time. If you threaten someone with a recipe for anthrax, they laugh and t
I'd argue that ethics are no different (Score:1)
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:2)
I teach a course in network security and at times we do talk about vulnerabilites and how to break systems, but I don't teach ethics. I tell students in no uncertain terms that they can use the penetation techniques they learn in class only on systems they own or have authorized, written permission to attack. There is no gray area.
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:2)
Still, it would be interesting to see a discussion of computer/hacker ethics - anyone can artificially construct a grey area where hacking without permission saves lives, or examine the legal theory that establishes where the line will be drawn, or talk about why privacy and security are important. And because it's a microcosm of the larger universe of ethics, it would be a genu
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:2)
In a manner of speaking, everyone has ethics but they're not always the same.
For example, Bill Clinton's ethics allow him to cheat on his wife. George Bush's ethics allow him to wage an unnecessary war in Iraq. My ethics have allowed me to do things that some people may find unethical.
LK
Re:The ethics of hacking (Score:1)
Why then have we not attacked Israel? They have violated more UN Resolutions than Iraq.
LK
For self study: try SANS @home or OnDemand (Score:1, Informative)
CISSP (Score:3, Insightful)
Yeah, I guess I'll bring it up here, but what the hell? How do you get into the security field if you can't get the certification the field requires? Anyone know a CISSP in the Missouri area who can sign a letter for me? I just want to take the freaking test.
CISSP isn't exactly the bottom of the ladder... (Score:2)
It's ethical ___CRACKER___!!!!!!!! (Score:1, Insightful)
have we moved on?
Re:It's ethical ___CRACKER___!!!!!!!! (Score:2, Interesting)
Hacking is a scientific research and it is orthogonal to ethics. Only cracking, which is an activity, can be described as ethical or not.
Seems the exam's organizer ain't knowing what hacking means....
Re:It's ethical ___CRACKER___!!!!!!!! (Score:1)
EC-Council (Score:1)
damn animated icon! (Score:1)
Re:damn animated icon! (Score:1)