OSCP vs CEH – Which is the Right Cyber Security Certification For You?
- What is OSCP Certification?
- Benefits of OSCP Certification
- What is CEH Certification
- CEH Certification Requirements
- OSCP vs CEH
- Conclusion
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What is OSCP Certification?
Offensive Security Certified Professional, popularly known as OSCP, is said to be very challenging and needs a lot of dedication, hard work, and smart work. Having said that, what exactly does it mean to be an OSCP?
As an OSCP, you will be required to possess the following traits:
- Being regularly updated on real-time technology needs
- Linux understanding (at least a basic level)
- Good knowledge of programming
- Creative and on-spot problem-solving capabilities
- Patience
Usually, to understand the in-depth requirements from an OSCP, the overall understanding is divided into pre-enrollment and post-enrollment scenarios.
Before enrolling yourself in OSCP certification, make sure that you fulfill the following checklist:
- Be thorough with the basic commands of Linux basic (if you can be updated on the advanced concepts, it is a plus!)
- Have a good understanding of the Python programming language (learning more programming languages is a plus!)
- Have a good understanding of buffer overflow; a brief understanding of buffer overflow will be fine as well. The buffer overflow concept helps you to score well in the OSCP certification exam.
Note: The above-mentioned are the basic requirements in the pre-enrollment stage of OSCP certification. However, you can be equipped with more conceptual understanding to score higher. Additional concepts include remuneration, shell exploitation, windows privilege escalation, Linux privilege escalation, and privilege escalation recon scripts. Furthermore, it is recommended to understand the concepts of service enumeration, penetration testing approaches, post-exploitation, privilege escalation, and such, for gaining the best results from the OSCP certification exam.
After following the pre-enrollment OSCP certification requirements, it is important to understand the post-enrollment OSCP certification requirements to get the best out of the OSCP certification, in general.
Following your enrollment, you will be provided with the materials and other requirements within a period of 20 to 30 days. Upon receiving the materials, make sure to explore your talents and lag points that require work. Make sure that your research idea is unique and has market potential to receive the best out of the OSCP certification course.
But, why is OSCP certification gaining relevance these days? What benefits does it offer? The following section shall answer the same.
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Benefits of OSCP Certification
You can work for organizations toward securing their servers, in general; this includes understanding the threats and potential threats faced by the organizations and working on them.
You will be responsible for handling an organization’s network and detect security issues in the same.
By learning to work with exploits, vulnerability scanning, buffer overflows, privilege escalations, client-side attacks, web application attacks, password attacks, and more, via OSCP certification, you will be able to provide proactive security to organizations. You will be able to do the above-mentioned because, through the OSCP certification, you will be equipped with capabilities to understand the organizations in a different dimension.
In brief, you will make the organizations a more secure place through your OSCP certification.
On briefly understanding the OSCP certification, it is time to understand the CEH and its concepts. The following section will help you to understand what the CEH is all about, in general.
What is CEH Certification
When you think of hackers, there might be various visuals that might pop into your mind. It is safe to assume that the images of hackers, in general, are not great. This is why Certified Ethical Hacker, popularly known as CEH, exists.
CEH certification gives a platform to hackers like you to exhibit your talents in more ethical and legal ways.
But, what exactly is the difference between normal hacking and ethical hacking?
In brief, it can be said that the core difference is consent and legality. In the case of hacking, usually, there is no consent and it is illegal in several jurisdictions around the globe.
However, in the case of ethical hacking, you will be given consent by the organization to hack, and ethical hacking is recognized in numerous jurisdictions around the globe as well. But, what does ethical hacking involve? Ethical hacking involves hacking into an organization’s server to find potential threats and so on. As an ethical hacker, you will be able to protect an organization’s overall network by understanding its weaknesses and vulnerabilities.
As a certified CEH, your responsibility, in general, is to prevent intruders from entering or attacking an organization’s security system. As an ethical hacker with CEH certification, you will be required to update all the systems with the latest software.
Furthermore, risk assessment has to be made regularly on all systems and reports, and the same has to be submitted frequently.
In addition, as an ethical hacker with CEH certification, your problem-solving capabilities should always be excellent, for the market is filled with new threats and your on-spot solutions will be highly relied on by an organization for the betterment of the organization’s security.
But, how do you begin as a CEH? The following section will answer.
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Career Transition
CEH Certification Requirements
To begin with, you will be required to have a degree in computer science. A masters’ degree in computer science is a plus. You will have to be well-versed in programming languages and have a good amount of real-time experience with the same.
You should have knowledge of past, current, and future hacking methodologies in the market along with the knowledge of adequate methodologies to tackle the same as well. Knowing NMAP, NESSUS, Wireshark, Metasploit, Nexpose, Whitehat, and others of such nature, is a plus.
As an ethical hacker with CEH certification, you will be able to improve your knowledge of risks and vulnerabilities, improve your hacking capabilities, get better-paying job opportunities, and much more. The above-mentioned are popular benefits of choosing the CEH career path.
As an ethical hacker with CEH certification, you will be able to perform vulnerability tests (both internal and external,) penetrations tests (both internal and external,) social engineering assessments, wireless security assessments, network device configuration review, technical security assessments, risk mitigation strategy analysis, and much more of similar nature.
With the CEH certification, you can be placed in other jobs of the same nature as well. This includes a security consultant, threat and vulnerability manager, Cyber Security consultant, and information security specialist.
On understanding the difference between CEH and OSCP, you might wonder which is the best one. The analysis in the following section, OSCP vs CEH, will help you choose the best one, out of the two, for you! If you are confused whether to choose OSCP or CEH, this will help you!
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OSCP vs CEH
Let us have a look at the differences between OSCP and CEH on various aspects –
Requirements
This is the first and major difference between OSCP and CEH.
As per the EC council, you can appear for the CEH certification exam in two ways. The first option is to appear for the CEH certification exam by using the EC-council-approved curriculum. The EC council has not listed any specific requirements yet to take the CEH certification exam.
The second option is by applying for an exam with a minimum of two years of experience. Sometimes, there will be a need for a CND exam as well in certain cases.
The OSCP certification exam does not have steadfast requirements; the minimal requirement is the Kali Linux course.
Pricing
This is the second difference between OSCP and CEH. This will help you in understanding the financial requirements of the certifications.
The cost of the CEH certification exam ranges from 950 USD to 1199 USD.
The cost of the OSCP certification exam is 850 USD.
Difficulty level
This is the third and, yet, the most important difference between OSCP and CEH.
The OSCP certification exam has a long duration with a considerably higher difficulty level; the exam can take up to 48 hours and has up to 125 MCQs.
Recertification
This is the final difference between OSCP and CEH. This will help you in the understanding of validity and usage in the long run.
The CEH certification is valid for three years and has to be renewed thereafter. For CEH recertification, you will have to pay 80 USD annually.
The OSCP certification has lifetime validity.
We hope that our brief OSCP vs CEH analysis has helped you in making a choice. To conclude, it can be said that both CEH and OSCP have their own advantages, and based on the above comparison, you can choose the best certification applicable for you!
Salary and Career Path
By taking up the CEH certification course, you can start your career in the cyber security field quicker in contrast to the OSCP certification course.
The only requirement to start your cyber security career via the CEH path is that you must have good knowledge of networks.
On the other hand, you need to have only the basics of fundamentals in cyber security, along with good knowledge of CEH to be certified in OSCP.
Speaking of the salary, you can earn between Rs 1.77 lakh to Rs 40 lakh per annum as a certified CEH professional.
Meanwhile, you can earn between Rs 14 lakh to Rs 35 lakh per annum as a certified OSCP professional.
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Conclusion
Both the CEH and OSCP certification programs give you the opportunity to showcase your skills in the field of cyber security. By carefully choosing the right certification program, you can get the best out of the programs.
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