If you’re considering a job in the cyber security business as a freelance hacker, you may want to learn about ethical hacking.

Continue reading to get a comprehensive guide to being a freelance ethical hacker in 2022.

You’ll discover the necessary technical talents, practical abilities, job descriptions, and educational prerequisites for an ethical hacking profession.

The good news is that ethical hacking is unquestionably a talent that can be acquired via study and practice, so saddle up and join us as we examine all of your possibilities for progressing and becoming an ethical hacker.

What Is Freelance Ethical Hacking? 

Not all hackers are the same.

Black-hat hackers profit by assaulting businesses and governments and stealing data or holding it for ransom in the hope of receiving a payout.

On the other side, white-hat hackers spend their days “attacking” their customers’ security systems and are compensated for their hacking efforts — moreover, they don’t have to worry about FBI raids.

Professionally, there are a few drawbacks in the ethical hacking arena.

If your permitted attacks are effective, you may provide a list of vulnerabilities and the best approach to resolve them for your clients.

This leads to a more robust security system that is capable of repelling attacks.

If, on the other hand, your hacking attempts are unsuccessful, your customers will remain satisfied, knowing that their security measures have proven sturdy enough to resist an assault.

Skilled white-hat hackers possess the same cybersecurity expertise as criminal hackers, which is why their job is critical when it comes to identifying vulnerabilities and entry points in a network’s, infrastructure, and online application’s security.

How To Become A Freelance Hacker (Step-By-Step Guide)

If you are willing to become a freelance hacker, you need to follow some of the basic steps and start gaining experience to see quality results.

Here are our three major steps to become a freelance hacker.

1. Start Learning Ethical Hacking 

The fundamental fundamentals of networking should be at the top of your priority list.

You’ll need to grasp how various protocols allow you to connect to systems remotely in a variety of ways.

This information will assist you in determining how to shut down these ports and deter intruders.

CompTIA’s Network+ certification is an excellent place to start since it teaches you the fundamental networking fundamentals you’ll need.

Following this certification, the CompTIA CASP (Certified Advanced Security Practitioner), the ISC2 CISSP (Certified Information Systems Security Professional), and the EC Council CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker) are all excellent options for learning penetration testing and ethical hacking, although the CISSP and CEH are more advanced.

You might also have to take some of the best courses for freelancers to enhance your networking and selling skills.

Apart from the academic prerequisites for learning how to use your knowledge as a security expert, you will also need to develop your ability to reason and reason logically.

The most effective method of learning to hack is to spend time in a test lab setting and practice.

This should become a habit, and you must always strive to develop, study, and use all of the new talents you acquire along the road.

You will ultimately memorize all of the various port numbers, apps, and strategies necessary to hack into systems and keep out undesirable visitors.

2. Acquire Relevant Skills 

While there are several anecdotal tales of black hat hackers turning whitehats in a bygone period, the most critical criterion for being a successful ethical hacker today is to possess, as implied by the term, high ethical standards.

What distinguishes the good folks from the evil people is their ethics.

There are several black hat hackers that possess the technical abilities necessary to be an ethical hacker, but lack the character discipline to do the right thing regardless of the apparent rewards.

Second to cover the “ethical” aspect of this vernacular moniker is the need to include the “hacker” aspect as well.

The capability to offer mitigation and remedial techniques is a desirable outcome.

• Strong coding abilities are required, as are a clear understanding and demonstration of direct, physical, and hands-on assault tactics. 
• A candidate for an ethical hacker position must be able to exhibit advanced technical capabilities in cybersecurity.
• They must be familiar with firewalls and file systems.
• They must understand how file permissions operate and have a broad understanding of servers, workstations, and computer science.
• Above and beyond sound ethics and technical proficiency, a unique blend of creative and analytical thinking is required. 
• Ethical hackers must be able to think in adversarial shoes. 
• They must understand what motivates the bad actors and be able to estimate how much time and effort the blackhat may be willing to apply toward any specific target. 
• They must have a working knowledge of operating systems, particularly Windows and Linux.

In summary, an ethical hacker should have guarded several assets over the course of their career to the point where emulating and then thinking a few steps ahead of the enemy comes almost naturally.

3. Gain Experience 

You may begin applying for ethical hacker roles after earning a bachelor’s degree in cyber security or computer science.

If you have a degree from a coding bootcamp or an online school, you may supplement your skills by looking for entry-level cyber security positions.

A skilled hacker should have at least a few years of expertise.

You should also learn about the best programming language for freelancing.

Ending Word 

Except for the infrequent independent freelance offensive cybersecurity expert, ethical hackers often operate in teams.

If assigned to a red team, the team will consist of similarly adept ethical hackers or pen-testers, and the team will be integrated into the wider security department.

While the ethical hacker may be the sole individual with an offensive function in a small firm, he or she will inevitably be a member of a broader security team.

Successful collaboration and communication with other team members are crucial.

An ethical hacker is not your conventional hoodie-wearing adolescent working out of his parent’s basement – who has opted to exchange their black hat for a white one.

Frequently, she is an educated, experienced, capable, and eloquent professional committed to make the world a safer place to live and work.

While history is replete with examples of self-taught gritty individualists rising to the pinnacle of cybersecurity operations by their digital bootstraps, an education consisting of a bachelor’s degree and one or more specialized professional certifications is the minimum requirement for ethical hackers.

Years of experience demonstrating their mettle in software development and/or more conventional defensive security professions is not uncommon for successful ethical hackers.

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