What is ethical hacking?

Ethical hacking (AKA <a href="https://www.codecademy.com/article/pen-testing">penetration testing</a>) involves trying to break into an organization's networks and systems to evaluate its cyber defenses. Unlike the malicious hacking you hear about in the news, ethical hacking is entirely legal and plays a big role in cybersecurity.

What do Ethical Hackers do?

Working with the approval of the organization, <a href="https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blog/what-is-ethical-hacking/">Ethical Hackers</a> exploit bugs and use popular hacking methods to gain unauthorized access to a computer network or system. This helps companies find and fix vulnerabilities in their security measures, and they may also educate team members on the latest cyber threats and attacks.

What industries use ethical hacking?

As a part of cybersecurity, ethical hacking is used in almost every industry. From banks and insurance companies to retailers and e-commerce websites, any organization that collects sensitive information can benefit from penetration testing.

What else should I study if I am learning ethical hacking?

If you want to learn more about ethical hacking, you can start by learning more about the fundamentals of cybersecurity. Then, you can learn how to use tools like the Command Line, Bash, and Python to write penetration scripts and find an opportunity to <a href="https://www.codecademy.com/resources/blog/how-to-practice-ethical-hacking-legally/">(legally) practice your hacking skills</a>.

Are Ethical Hackers in demand?

Tech is everywhere, and practically every company creates and stores huge volumes of sensitive data. As a result, cybersecurity skills are in high demand — and by extension, so are Ethical Hackers. In fact, the demand for Ethical Hackers (and other Information Security Analysts) is expected to rise by 35% by 2031, according to the <a href="https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/information-security-analysts.htm">U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics</a>.

Course

Introduction To Ethical Hacking

In this course, you will learn what it means to be an Ethical Hacker, and practice tools and techniques used to hack ethically.

This course includes

28,468 learners enrolled

This course includes

Skill level
Beginner
Time to complete
Average based on combined completion rates — individual pacing in lessons, projects, and quizzes may vary

1 hour
Projects
1
Prerequisites
None

About this course

Hacking is a neat skill to have. However, such a skill requires great responsibility. Learn about the responsibility an ethical hacker have in this introductory course to Ethical Hacking. In this course, you will get a peek into what it means to be an Ethical Hacker, practice hacking ethically, and learn the tools and techniques to be an efficient hacker.

Syllabus

5 lessons • 1 project • 4 quizzes

Certificate of completion available with Plus or Pro
Earn a certificate of completion and showcase your accomplishment on your resume or LinkedIn.

The platform

Hands-on learning

Animated GIF of an AI provided error explanation within Codecademy's learning environment

An AI-generated hint within the instructions of a Codecademy project

Animated GIF of Codecademy's Job Readiness Checker tool generating a compatibility report for a senior software engineer role

Animated GIF of building a phone screen interview using Codecademy's Interview Simulator

A fill-in-the-blank JavaScript question in a Codecademy assessment

Explore features

Projects in this course

practice Project
Decrypt Secret Messages
Practice decrypting intercepted data using the command line to thwart Evil Corp.

Meet the creator of the course

Meet the full team

Jonathan Chery

Curriculum Developer at Codecademy, specializing in cybersecurity

Jonathan Chery is a Curriculum Developer in the Cybersecurity domain at Codecademy. He has a Bachelor's in Computer Science from York College, City University of New York, and a Master's degree in Computer Science from Northeastern University.

Meet the full team

Earn a certificate of completion

Show your network you've done the work by earning a certificate of completion for each course or path you finish.

Show proofReceive a certificate that demonstrates you've completed a course or path.
Build a collectionThe more courses and paths you complete, the more certificates you collect.
Share with your networkEasily add certificates of completion to your LinkedIn profile to share your accomplishments.