Training Camp Turns IT Specialists Into Ethical Hackers
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Teaching people how to think like a bad guy is the best way to help them catch the bad guys. At least that's the theory behind an innovative training program being offered by the Training Camp in Philadelphia. During the company's week-long "Hacker Boot Camp" participants work 12-14 hours a day breaking into bank accounts to obtain credit card numbers, setting up false identities, and even creating million dollar bank accounts for themselves.
Luckily for the rest of us, the banks they hack into are fictional, as are the accounts and funds they toy with, but those who are successful will walk away at the end of the week with a real credential designating them as a "Certified Ethical Hacker."
Overseen by the International Council of Electronic Commerce Consultants that certification helps students better protect the security of the corporate information-technology departments they work for, or go on to careers in penetration testing and computerized forensics. In penetration testing ethical hackers are hired to intentionally hack a corporation's computer network to help discover weaknesses in its security or verify that the security is effective. Computerized forensics workers may be called upon to hack into the files or e-mail accounts on a victim or criminal's computer to provide further evidence in an investigation.
With education centers throughout the United States, Training Camp provides IT professionals with accelerated certification programs, allowing them to up-grade their skills in a variety of areas in just half the time it normally takes to obtain such certifications. The Hacker Boot Camp can be beneficial for computer professionals working as security officers, auditors, and site administrators.
Training Camp recommends that those who apply for the program have at least two years of information technology security experience, a basic familiarity with Linux and a strong working knowledge of TCP/IP. However, they point out that this is just a guideline and they often accept students with less experience, who have a particular trait or past experience that would make them suitable for the program.
Hacker Boot Camp breaks training down into three aspects; lecture, lab and review and instructors ensure that information is presented in a mix of visual, auditory and kinesthetic-tactual delivery to cater to each individual's learning style. During the lab portions of training students work with two computers; one that they use to "attack" and one that they use to "defend" against their own hacks.
Prior to beginning the program all students need to sign a waiver guaranteeing that they won't use the hacking skills they learn to commit crimes. To further prevent criminal activity, the Hacker Boot Camp mostly focusses on teaching common, well-known hacking techniques that most computers in the real world can easily defend against and does their best not to spread any information that would help a real hacker. As well, all potential students are personally interviewed by Training Camp staff before they are enrolled in the program.