Ethical Hacking
Mar 5, 2025
CEH VS PENTEST+
Penetration testing focuses on the security of the specific area defined for testing. Ethical hacking is a comprehensive term and penetration testing is one of the functions of the ethical hacker.Perhaps due to the popularity of its name, CEH has been incorrectly perceived to be a penetration testing course. It is not. EC-Council CEH course is a catalyst that can lead a learner to a variety of jobs in information security and not just penetration testing.
In many organizations, ethical hackers are not even involved in penetration testing teams or processes. Across many government organizations, ethical hacking is used to build the foundations of Computer Network Exploitation (CNE) and Computer Network Attack (CNA) Team. While these teams are highly offensive and very specialized, they will never be part of a penetration test. Their tactical cyber skills are highly coveted and take years to develop. In other organizations, Ethical Hackers are used for a wide variety of job functions to augment networks and methods by which tools and protocols communicate. Some are technicians for Intrusion Prevention Teams, SOC II Incident Handlers, Threat Hunters, etc. Ethical hacking indeed has a part in pen-testing, but that is just a piece. Ethical hacking on its own has grown into a very exciting dynamic profession over the past 15 years and truly stands on its own.If you are looking to compare EC-Council’s pen-testing program to another, you should compare it to ECSA instead.
Ethical Hacking is NOT Penetration Testing!
As the IS/IA profession matures, the core functions of the Information Security professional mature as well. Many companies have dedicated teams to handle the various aspects of cybersecurity, from Network and Sys Admins to Audit teams, SOC teams, Threat analysts, Incident Response and Handling, etc. Due to the scope required to protect systems and their critical role in organizational success, many companies outsource certain elements of their cybersecurity programs to third-party service providers with the proper expertise.Ethical hacking is a practice. The skills employed by an ethical hacker allow them to practice a continuous assessment cycle of an organization’s security posture by employing the same tools, methods, and techniques of a cybercriminal (malicious hacker). Ethical hackers often have deep knowledge of the organization and its vulnerabilities, as well as its vulnerability management approach. Understanding possible weaknesses, they then utilize the same methods and tools a malicious hacker would use to exploit the weaknesses. This process allows organizations to test systems, vulnerabilities, security measures, policies, etc. to help identify risk, setup countermeasures, deploy defensive resolutions to problems, etc. The very nature of hacking is to use a system in ways it was not intended to be used to produce an outcome not expected by design.
So, what is Penetration Testing?
Penetration testing is a coordinated assessment process, usually performed by a team generally contracted. The organization defines the scope of what is to be tested and reported. The test involves a variety of items, but for the simplicity of explanation, an individual or team under contract would approach a system, assess the entire system for vulnerabilities or weaknesses through a predefined methodological approach, many times, those vulnerabilities are exploited in a controlled manner to identify the risk to the organization. From this point, a pen-tester would prepare a comprehensive report that includes an executive summary, vulnerability classification documents describing the issues in the system tested along with exploitation records showing what threat those vulnerabilities, if exploited, pose to the organization. Paired with an understanding of the business value of the system, exploitation results can help establish a risk score or matrix. With the executive summary, vulnerability classification, and exploitation results, recommended remediation strategies can be documented and shared in detail with key organization stakeholders in the form of a pen-test report.Penetration tests are valuable for a variety of reasons. The most common are security maturity and risk management. This is a proactive approach many organizations take to identify their own weaknesses before cybercriminals do. Most commonly, however, penetration tests are used for compliance auditing. One example, for instance, is: with a publicly-traded company that is subject to SEC filing, the quarterly and annual financials reported to the SEC must be accompanied by an independent security audit validating the integrity of that companies’ systems. That independent security audit is a penetration test report.
The chart below may further help define some of the differences.
Sure! Here's the content reorganized without the "session" labels, but still broken into clean, easy-to-read sections for clarity:
Ethical Hacking vs Penetration Testing
Ethical hacking is a skillset and an ongoing practice used by information security professionals in their daily jobs. While it plays a part in penetration testing, ethical hacking on its own is not penetration testing. Comparing the two directly can be misleading and unproductive.
The EC-Council Pen Testing Track
Penetration testing is a coordinated, contracted, and structured process. It includes:
Scope identification and agreement
Vulnerability assessment and classification
Exploitation
Documentation and report writing
Risk analysis and communication
Developing these skills requires training in each component. For over 15 years, EC-Council has helped build these capabilities globally.
Building Internal Capabilities
Many companies rely on third-party penetration testing, while others build in-house teams to:
Reduce dependency on external assessors
Increase internal testing frequency
Improve cybersecurity maturity
Organizations are transitioning from outsourced cybersecurity to mature in-house practices. Some aim to offer consulting services; others, like the U.S. Department of Defense and its contractors, mandate these skills under DoD Directive 8140 and CMMC.
Certified Network Defender (CND)
EC-Council’s CND certification is the entry point for tactical cybersecurity roles. It teaches:
How information systems operate
The role of technology
How hackers exploit systems
Provisioning, operating, and maintaining secure IT environments
CND professionals deploy countermeasures and monitor systems to address weaknesses found during pen-tests.
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
CEH focuses on offensive tactics used by hackers. Ethical hackers:
Mimic malicious hackers under legal contracts
Identify, exploit, and document system vulnerabilities
Use methods like brute force, SQL injection, and zero-day exploits
They act as the “attackers” within Red Teams to simulate real-world threats.
Certified Security Analyst (ECSA)
ECSA connects the knowledge from CND and CEH into a complete penetration testing framework. It covers:
The entire penetration testing cycle
Vulnerability documentation and risk classification
Report writing and risk communication
This enables professionals to translate technical findings into actionable intelligence for stakeholders.
Credentialing: Knowledge vs Skill
Traditional certification relies heavily on multiple-choice questions (MCQs) to test knowledge. However, this approach doesn't always assess practical skills. EC-Council enhances its exams with performance-based questions and simulations—but even those have limitations.
Master Certification Tracks
EC-Council created Master Tracks to address this gap by combining:
MCQs for knowledge assessment
Real-world practical exams in live cyber environments (via iLabs)
Using virtual machines and real scenarios, students prove they can apply what they’ve learned by finding hidden flags, analyzing attack files, and interacting with real networks. Candidates who pass both components show true readiness in both theory and practice.
