CEH Certification: Exam Details, Cost & Career Benefits

EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker is an internationally recognised career development credential that covers offensive information technology security skills. In context with other more common security certifications, CEH is located in between, for example, Security+ certification at the bottom, practice security certifications like Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) at the top. Therefore, CEH is a good certification for anyone looking to become a penetration tester, security analyst, or vulnerability assessment professional, and is one that is most commonly required to work for agencies in both government and commercial security markets.

Exam Details

The Certified Ethical Hacker exam (312-50) consists of 125 questions and has a strict time limit of 4 hours. Unfortunately, these questions are furthermore poor in diversity, as each one stems from the other three answer choices to a greater or lesser degree, and are accurate in one of four answer possibilities. The exam covers all 20 modules in the CEH curriculum. Therefore, the passing score is relative to the version of the question pool for your specific exam, and as a consequence, could range from 60 to 80%. The exam can be administered at any Pearson VUE test center, and can be proctored from the location of your choosing through a service provided by EC-Council. The CEH certification is currently on version 13, and has recently adopted a framework that includes AI in all of the phases of Ethical Hacking: Recon, Scanning, Getting in, Staying in, and Covering Tracks. This is aimed to reflect the emergence of AI in the offensive and defensive security tools of the attacker and the defender.

Eligibility Requirements

Candidates can take two routes to achieve CEH. One option is direct EC-Council training. To take this route, candidates must complete an accredited EC-Council training program and pay a $100 administration fee for every attempted exam. The second option is direct submissions with at least two years of information security. Candidates must submit an eligibility application for a non-refundable $100 application fee. This route is directed at candidates with hands-on security experience, self-studiness preference, and lack of EC-Council official training.

Cost Breakdown

The costs for a CEH exam differ between the test administration locations. For example, the cost is $950 for an EC-Council test administration and $1,199 for a Pearson VUE test administration. If candidates chose to take the CEH exam online and needed a remote proctor, there is an additional $100 fee. If candidates lack EC-Council training, the $100 eligibility application fee is also applicable. For official EC-Council training, the cost is inclusive of the exam voucher, courseware, and lab access. The packages vary from $1,899 to $3,499.

Eligibility is only the first step of the cert. If candidates achieve the CEH cert, in a three-year period, they must obtain 120 ECE (EC-Council Continuing Education) credits. Each of those years, candidates suspect to the annual fee of $80. There is also CEH v13 which has AI-integrated content, so additional work is needed for adequate understanding.

Career Benefits

CEH credentials report positive results on career advancement. The certification can be found on the US DoD 8570/8140 approved list. It is required in certain US government, military, and intelligence Community security roles. Because of the government sector recognition, CEH has a strong edge in differentiating it from competition among security credentials. When in the the private sector, CEH can be seen on various job postings on penetration tester, ethical hacker, security analyst, security consultant, and vulnerability assessment specialist posts.

In the USA, CEH's average salary is about $137,000 a year, according to Glassdoor. ZipRecruiter states that the average is $161,000, and for some, $237,000 was the figure. Various salary figures show that CEH may expect to gain an additional 20 to 31% to their salary post credentialing. The ROI is impressive, given the credential's self-study cost lasting about $1,400 to $1,900, and given the average salary increase is $22,000 in the credentialing's first year.

The CEH credential and the comptia security+ certification are often seen as standing alongside each other. Security+ covers the general entry level exposure and CEH is viewed as the credential that provides offensive security to the employers and recruiters.

Keeping Value After Certification

CEH is more useful as just one part of a broader strategy of continual growth and development rather than a separate credential. Combine CEH with penetration testing practice, a home lab, participation in CTFs, and if feasible, a practical credential like the OSCP. This would create a robust profile usually associated with advanced offensive security practitioners.

(All articles published here are Syndicated/Partnered/Sponsored feed, LatestLY Staff may not have modified or edited the content body. The views and facts appearing in the articles do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY, also LatestLY does not assume any responsibility or liability for the same.)