Certified Ethical Hacker Job Outlook

Cybersecurity professionals have many possible many career paths, but one of the more promising positions out there is that of an ethical hacker. An ethical hacker attempts to penetrate computer systems and networks — with the permission of the owner — with the goal of finding security vulnerabilities that can be exploited by malicious hackers.

Ethical hackers use the same tools, methodologies and mindset as a malicious hacker. The main difference is that this type of hacking is completely legal, and any weaknesses and vulnerabilities are reported directly back to the client.

Ethical hackers are known in the cybersecurity world as either “white hat” or “grey hat” because they are breaking into systems in order to increase the overall lines of defense for an organization. It is the “black hat” Hacker that often has malicious and illegal intentions in mind.

The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification demonstrates that the individual is both technically and professionally qualified to carry out such tasks. In this article, we examine what the job prospects are for an individual that has a CEH, based on data from Payscale and other sources.

Below are some the “hot” cities in the United States for CEH jobs and their respective salary ranges:

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• Washington, DC: $66,161 – $126,125
• New York City: $50,633 – $132,270
• San Antonio, TX: $52,270 – $90,707
• Atlanta, GA: $49,550 – $107,467
• San Diego, CA: $66,303 – $120,732

The most lucrative places to work as a CEH tend to be in large cities. What is a little surprising is there is not a huge difference between the salary ranges. No matter what big city a CEH chooses to work in, they will likely command a very respectable salary. It is expected that the demand for IT professionals with the CEH cert will be in high demand (Read more...)