Almost all aspects of our daily lives take place in the digital domain. An error or incident happens in the blink of an eye and has increasingly greater consequences. An employee who clicks on a phishing link, a data leak or a cybercriminal crippling an organization with ransomware. Such incidents are in the news on an almost daily basis.

More and more companies are becoming targets of cybercrime, which often entails high costs and other negative consequences. This means there is an increasing demand for IT security specialists, including certified ethical hackers, to protect companies against cyberattacks.

In this 15EC minor, you will be prepared through theory and practice to obtain the internationally recognized certificate 'Certified Ethical Hacker', after which you can call yourself an ethical hacker.

Minor content

In this minor you learn through theory and practice how a hacker thinks and works. In addition to the terminologies, you also use the tools used by hackers. You also carry out a practical assignment at a company of your choice. You conduct research into the vulnerability of that company in a number of agreed areas. During this research you record what you did and how you did it. You report this afterwards and also indicate what the risks are and how they can be prevented or mitigated.

You can choose one minor of 30EC (cybersafety) or a combination of 15EC minors. The possible combinations are listed in the list below.

You can participate in one of the modules per period. In both periods, there is a joint start and shared knowledge lectures are offered so that you, as a student, gain knowledge about technical, organisational and human aspects. Preferably you follow the modules physically, but it is also possible to follow them remotely (hybrid).

Structure of the minor

After completing this module, students can:

• Perform a security analysis on a corporate network;
• Provide a solid advice on the design of an infrastructure;
• Propose measures that benefit information security;
• Map and redesign processes while taking into account the safeguarding of the integrity of the data;
• Set up infrastructure with security in mind;
• Set up basic monitoring of infrastructure;
• Create and implement an infrastructure test plan;
• Perform a pentest;
• Explain a topic in a responsible manner based on existing sources;
• Write a justification description of the competences to be achieved.

Target group and details

• University of Applied Sciences-students, 3th and 4th year of: 
  Informatics 
• Computer Science 
• ICT 

Other courses from the Domain Applied Science are also welcome, provided that sufficient knowledge of Informatics is covered in their curriculum. 

The costs for this minor are 180 euros. For that amount you get access to EC-Council's study materials for a year and you also receive a voucher for the exam with which you can obtain the official certificate. This certificate does not count in the assessment of the minor, but is an asset to your CV.

Examination

To assess whether you have achieved the objectives of this module, one assignment must be completed in a group. All components mentioned in the design of the minor must be included. You will be assessed on the following 3 facets (all three facets must be sufficient):

• Activities
• Paper
• Accountability description of the competences to be achieved by the student

The costs of this minor are 180 euros. For that amount you will receive a one-year access to the EC-Council study material, as well as a voucher for the exam to obtain the official certificate. This certificate does not count for the assessment of the minor, but it is a welcome asset to your resume.