What Is It Like to Be a Penetration Tester for an In-House Team?

Being a penetration tester is an exciting and lucrative career, but is it the right one for you? You may be reading this article because you:

• Are interested in becoming a penetration tester
• Are currently freelancing and are considering taking on a corporate role
• Are working at a company which is considering setting up an in-house pentesting team
• Have recently qualified as a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

Image for Warning by JuralMin. Licensed under CC BY 2.0

Below, we will answer some common questions aspiring penetration testers and ethical hackers ask about working for an in-house team and provide links to related resources. At the end, you will be able to make an informed decision about whether a job on an in-house team is a viable career option to suit your lifestyle, interests, financial needs, skills, and experience.

The Job: Roles and Responsibilities of Pentesters on In-House Teams

Cybersecurity Job Roles and Pentesting Specialization

Entry-level ethical hackers will usually start their careers in a role such as junior systems administrator, network administrator or IT support. With further experience and professional qualifications, you could move into a junior penetration-testing role. As a penetration tester, you will have many opportunities to specialize in a particular niche, whether in an entry-level or management position. Common areas of specialization (and these may overlap) include:

• Servers and network endpoints
• Windows, Linux or Mac operating systems
• Web-based products and applications
• Mobile applications and wireless devices
• Software code vulnerabilities
• Improper software configuration management implementation
• SCADA (Supervisory Control And Data Acquisition) control systems
• IoT (Internet of Things)
• Social engineering tactics
• Security frameworks and standards

A senior penetration tester may choose to work with or open a security consultancy, become a freelance ethical hacker or climb the ladder in-house to a managerial position.

Teamwork: How Are (Read more...)