Penetration testers are often referred to as ethical hackers due to the attempts to crack into a computer system for the purpose of testing the security instead of stealing data’s or creating damages.
So for you to become a penetration tester, you need to know how to write reports to showcase the results of your tests.
Responsibilities Of Penetration Testers
The responsibility of a penetration tester is quite enormous and it begins when only when he or she access/hack into the system
- Penetration Testers perform formal penetration tests on web-based applications, computer systems and networks.
- Conduct physical security assessments of systems, network devices and servers
- Design, Create or Use New Effective Penetration Testing tools to test.
- Prove for vulnerabilities in the client application and standard applications.
- Employs social engineering to open up security loopholes (e.g poor user security practices).
- Penetration testers don’t only assess problems but can be instrumental in formulating solutions to those problems i.e Research, documents and discuss security findings with IT team or Management.
- Review and define requirements for an information security solution.
- Provides feedback and verification as an organization fixes security issues.
Penetration Testers Vs. Vulnerability Assessor
There is a lot of confusion about the difference between Penetration Testers and Vulnerability Assessor but as Daniel Miessler points out.
A penetration tester will try to find ways to undo the security administrator’s work. They spend their time researching how to hack into the administrator’s systems and then will write reports to show the vulnerabilities and their business implications.
Vulnerability Assessor, on the other hand, is designed to produce the lists of vulnerabilities and are mainly for those who understand that they have issues and they only need someone who will help them identify and prioritize them.
Penetration Testers Career Path
The path to penetration tester is not quite straight as there are other ways to face this interdisciplinary field.
Some pen testers do take up Hacking from University, while some others use their Computer Science Cert for Cyber Security.
But to attain a job, you need to have experienced, employers look into what you have gained as in practical ways. so I will advise you to go for interns.
Either you gain experience working as a
- Security Administrator
- Network Administrator
- System Administrator
- or Even as a Network Engineer
So it will be easy for you to find a pay as a:
- Senior Penetration Tester
- Security Consultant
- Security Architect and some other jobs. And the minimum Salary Pay For Pentesters is $96,000.
