Online Hacking Courses on edX in 2021

Measures to Prevent Hacking 

AI-driven approaches are improved methods to protect breaches in computer networks. Also, to guarantee that critical information is not easily accessible to unauthorised entities. Every day, new worms, malware, viruses, and ransomware are released. As cybercrime is on the rise, businesses and organisations are preparing to tackle this situation in the best way possible. One of the most adapted approaches is to hire ethical hackers.

The necessity of employing ethical hacking services to protect corporations, government agencies, and defense networks is engaging rapidly. To stay ahead of the loopholes, ethical hackers follow variant strategies and techniques. In addition, companies update their hack-prevention procedures and deploy numerous technologies to secure the system. Ethical hackers attempt to breach systems to reveal potential flaws. They use AI technology to swiftly discover outliers by analysing people’s motions inside the system.

Why Should You Learn to Hack? 

Ethical hacking is usually used in combination with penetration testing to find vulnerabilities, risks, and gaps in a security system and develop countermeasures against those threats. Ethical hacking is an integral part of risk assessment, auditing, and fraud detection. Ethical hackers have many potentials, and it’s one of the fastest-growing occupations right now since many malicious attackers pose a threat to businesses and their networks. 

Ethical hackers are employed by industries such as information technology, banking, and national defense to secure their data and infrastructure. Due to the greater risk of vulnerability, demand for this skill will be higher than other skills. Therefore, online hacking courses are gaining popularity among students and officials around the world.

According to Payscale, certified hackers hired by professionals can earn an average of $80,074 a year. The EC-Council estimated that the typical starting pay for an accredited hacker could be up to $95,000. In the initial years of employment, Eric Geier, the creator of NoWiresSecurity, predicts a more cautious $50,000 – $100,000 yearly payment, depending on your position, experience, and academic qualification. If you have the expertise of a few years, you can earn up to $120,000 a year. Acquiring this skill can also help you to advance your freelancing career. A great many companies assign bulks of tasks to freelance hackers to build robust firewalls for their websites. 

How to Learn Hacking

Your current line of employment will determine how you begin your ethical hacking career. If you are not in the sector of information technology, you might consider changing jobs. Even though most positions need a Bachelor’s degree in computer science or a cybersecurity-related subject, exceptions are made for those who have a strong understanding of operating systems, databases, and networking.

There is a widespread misperception that a hacker’s job entails only testing whether systems and apps are accessible to an unauthorised entity. A good hacker is accountable for a lot more. The hackers should know how to observe Nessus and NMAP tools to scan open and closed ports. They require participation in social engineering techniques and examining patch releases by doing a thorough vulnerability assessment. A good hacker will test the firewalls, IDS, IPS, and honeypots to see if they can make their way through those. Hackers’ other methods include sniffling the networks, cracking wireless encryption, and taking control over servers and online applications.

By researching protection mechanisms and social-engineering components of an organization, an ethical hacker attempts to imitate the actions of a black hat hacker. They have to ensure that the company responds appropriately to these events if it isn’t already doing so. Hackers must be skilled in database management, networking, and operating systems and have good soft skills to convey security issues to the rest of the business. Apart from these skills, an ethical hacker should have some handy skills like: 

• Sniffing network traffic
• Plan and execute a variety of network assaults
• Exploit buffer overflow  
• Injecting SQL
• Cracking passwords and spoofing sessions
• Spoof DNS

A hacker must also be a creative thinker since black hat hackers constantly devise new ways to exploit a system. Therefore, it is the responsibility of an ethical hacker to foresee and prevent such breaches. 

Online Hacking Courses  

Many universities offer full-length courses about cryptography and cybersecurity. Getting enrolled in a college is the best way to get a course done. However, it may not always be possible to manage time for physical classes for every course that you want to take. Hacking is a practical-based course that is availed online by many platforms.

Some prefer learning different hacking techniques by watching tutorial videos as well as looking at that particular problem up on the internet. This is not an organised or reliable way of mastering this skill. To shape your hacking skill, you need a comprehensive understanding of cybersecurity and the tools used to enhance or penetrate the systems. The online hacking course is the best way to have a well-organised tutelage on hacking. There are plenty of courses designed to meet your specifications. These online hacking courses offer you 3-5 months long courses, including online videos, class notes, assignments, practice materials, and tests. 

Things to Consider in an Online Hacking Course

You will find many online hacking courses on the internet with one click. However, it would help if you considered which course is the best for you. The first and foremost thing you need to check is whether a course has any requirements to evaluate the student’s eligibility. Some courses presume some existing experience, while others are designed specifically for beginners. So, choose a course that is appropriate for your skill level. 

To get on with the courses, you need to understand some particular tools and software used. This will prepare you to collect all the resources you will need to complete the course. You will find both paid and free courses available online. Paid courses are often higher in quality, although they can be significantly expensive. However, many firms run special deals so that you may get a high-quality course for a low price.

The free online courses are also beneficial. It gives you room to experiment with the courses. It is wise to consider the authenticity of the platform before enrolment. Sometimes unethical hackers prey on inexperienced hackers, so be wary of unethical hackers who claim to teach you the ropes. 

edX Hacking Courses 

edX is one of the popular and reliable online learning platforms today. edX has a diverse range of courses in almost every department. They offer you the chance to learn from the brilliant minds of Harvard and MIT. The learning approach of this platform is practical, applied, and interactive. edX offers a significant number of hacking courses to build and enhance your hacking skills. edX hacking courses help students gain the skills they need. The courses are usually five weeks long and free of charge. However, you can acquire certificates once you have passed the courses. 

For Beginners 

You can learn ethical Hacking with one of the basic edX hacking courses- Tel Aviv University’s Unlocking Information Security: Part I. This course covers fundamental concepts and vulnerabilities of cybersecurity. This will also teach you how to exploit different security measures and an in-depth look at a real-world case study. 

You’ll also learn about the most critical vulnerability of all time, buffer overflow, as well as popular variations such as Variable and Stack Overflow. This course is also shaped to teach you about simple yet powerful mitigation strategies such as canaries and DEP. By the end of the course, you will have various other ethical hacking and cybersecurity topics covered. 

The Introduction to Cybersecurity, a course offered by the University of Washington, is another good place to start for a beginner. It covers all typical forms of assaults, such as denial of service and trojan infections. This course will also teach you how to defend against these assaults. It also covers the most recent developments in security systems so that you can learn about how other hackers breach securities.

RITx is an edX hacking course that provides micro-masters in Cybersecurity if you’re ready to take your skills a further step ahead. You’ll learn how to detect threats, use investigative tools, manage risk, and secure your network. You’ll also get a rundown on the most prevalent hacking tools used by cybercriminals and black hat hackers to exploit flaws. 

You will also learn about personalised cybersecurity. For example, when working on your smartphone or accessing bank accounts, how to create strong passwords, use antivirus software, and recognise common scams like phishing.  

Pros:

• These introductory courses build a strong base 
• You learn from case study 
• Learn to fix and typical cyber assaults 

Cons:

• Not enough knowledge to apply for professional projects 

For Advanced Learners

edX is not only suitable for beginners, but it also has a lot to offer to advanced learners. Network security by NYU is a top-rated edX hacking course. It is a five-week-long course. This is a self-paced course that covers network security issues in greater depth. Security Monitoring, Perimeter Security, IPv6, and IPv6 Security are among the subjects addressed. This course builds ethical hacking abilities in a student. Students also learn about network security monitoring, which identifies intrusions rather than the only guard against them. 

It explains why network security monitoring is necessary and what information is gathered and evaluated by it. This course also covers the Intrusion Detection System (IDS)/Intrusion Prevention System (IPS) and frequent techniques used by attackers to get around an IDS by giving real-world examples. 

Hacking PostgreSQL: Data Access Methods is another advanced edX hacking course. It is a rather elaborate and lengthy course. It takes 11 weeks to complete the course. This edX course gives the students an elaborated idea about using PostgreSQL references for data storage and data processing technologies. This course will be equipped to lead your understanding of core database developments, operation systems developments, system architects, and all those who want to understand databases in more detail. One of the most advanced and free, open-source database engines is PostgreSQL. 

This database is created by hackers around the world altogether. Many freelancers around the world like to work with this database. It is trendy among hackers. This course will teach you to utilize PostgreSQL indexes, alter them to meet your needs, and put your ideas into practice and contribute to the community. 

Pros:

• Gathering general ideas of data access.

• Teach you about PostgreSQL source code organisation and development lifecycle.
• You will be able to improve data access development trends. 

Cons:

• Advanced courses are time-consuming. 
• The final projects are very complex.

edX Hacking Courses – Our Verdict

Companies frequently engage computer specialists to hack into their systems to identify vulnerabilities and weak endpoints that can be addressed. This is done as a preventative step against unethical hackers who are legitimate. Ethical hackers are persons who hack into a system with authorisation and without harmful intent. The practice of ethical hacking is on the rise in the coming of the tech age. Thus, understanding hacking mechanics might pave the path for a long and fruitful career in hacking. 

Your knowledge and experience will help you become a white hat hacker or work for a company developing innovative solutions. With the help of edX hacking courses of cybersecurity and advanced hacking, you can enhance your skills in ensuring secure breaches and establishing a profession safeguarding the defenseless. Of course, there will always be people who want to take advantage of the system, but you may be among the first to implement new security measures.