Learn to think like an attacker — develop the offensive security skills to proactively discover vulnerabilities, execute penetration tests, and report findings before cybercriminals can exploit them.
The Ethical Hacker course prepares learners with the skills to discover and address vulnerabilities before cybercriminals do. Through a gamified narrative and real-world-inspired hands-on labs, learners become proficient in scoping, executing, and reporting on vulnerability assessments while recommending mitigation strategies. The course covers the full penetration testing lifecycle — from planning and reconnaissance through exploitation, post-exploitation, and reporting — across wired and wireless networks, web applications, cloud, mobile, and IoT systems. Whether pursuing a career on the offensive security side as an ethical hacker or penetration tester, or strengthening defensive skills by understanding attacker tactics, this course provides a solid foundation in offensive security.
Curriculum Chapters
- 1. Introduction to Ethical Hacking and Penetration Testing
- 2. Planning and Scoping a Penetration Testing Assessment
- 3. Information Gathering and Vulnerability Scanning
- 4. Social Engineering Attacks
- 5. Exploiting Wired and Wireless Networks
- 6. Exploiting Application-Based Vulnerabilities
- 7. Cloud, Mobile, and IoT Security
- 8. Performing Post-Exploitation Techniques
- 9. Reporting and Communication
- 10. Tools and Code Analysis
Skills You Will Learn
Explain ethical hacking and penetration testing methodologies and frameworks. Configure a virtual machine penetration testing lab environment. Create penetration test scope and planning documents addressing governance, risk, and compliance factors. Perform passive and active reconnaissance and analyze vulnerability scan results. Explain and demonstrate social engineering attack techniques including pretexting, phishing, and physical attacks. Exploit wired and wireless network vulnerabilities. Exploit web application vulnerabilities including OWASP Top 10 issues such as SQL injection, XSS, CSRF, authentication flaws, and file inclusion vulnerabilities. Attack cloud technologies and specialized systems including mobile and IoT. Perform post-exploitation activities including lateral movement, persistence, and detection avoidance. Create professional penetration testing reports with findings and remediation recommendations. Classify penetration testing tools by use case and analyze exploit code and scripts.
Technologies Used
Oracle VirtualBox / UTM (Virtual Machine labs)
Ethical hacking and penetration testing tools
Web application testing tools (OWASP-aligned)
Cisco Packet Tracer
Python and scripting basics
Course Details
Course Type: Free self-paced
Time: 70 Hours
Modules: 10
Labs: 34 labs, 86 interactive practice activities & quizzes, 1 skills-based assessment
Prerequisites
Entry-level cybersecurity knowledge required — CCST Cybersecurity, Cybersecurity Essentials v3.0, or Junior Cybersecurity Analyst Career Path (or equivalent). Basic programming knowledge recommended.
Certification & Career
Career and Certification alignment: No target certification exam for this course. Upon completion, earners receive the Ethical Hacker Cisco digital badge. Learners may also earn the Cisco Certificate in Ethical Hacking by additionally completing a Capture the Flag (CTF) challenge on Cisco U. The course prepares learners for offensive security roles including Ethical Hacker and Penetration Tester. Recommended next courses are CyberOps Associate and Network Security.
Achievements & Badges
Upon completion, earn a Cisco Networking Academy digital badge. Optionally, also earn the Cisco Certificate in Ethical Hacking by completing a Capture the Flag challenge on Cisco U. Share your verified achievements on LinkedIn, your CV, or professional profile.
What Cisco verifies: Cisco verifies the earner of this badge successfully completed the Ethical Hacker course. The holder of this student-level credential has a broad understanding of the legal and compliance requirements and is proficient in the art of scoping, executing, reporting vulnerability assessments, and recommending mitigation strategies.
Ready to Start This Course?
This course is delivered through Cisco Networking Academy — the official global learning platform. To enroll, click the button and you will be taken to the official course page on netacad.com. If you already have a Cisco Networking Academy account, simply log in and click Get Started. If you are new to the platform, creating a free account takes less than a minute. Enrollment is completely free.
You will be redirected to netacad.com.
A free account is required to enroll.