12 Best Free Online Ethical Hacking Courses

Ethical hackers are in high demand and if you wish to kick start a career in the field, the free online ethical hacking courses discussed in this post can help you get started.

The digital age brought forth many digital skills, from programming and web development to data science and ethical hacking. This ever-evolving space is sure to bring even more skills that will constantly be in high demand. All over the world, there is a high demand for individuals with digital skills, and rather than just waiting around, you should consider acquiring some.

Fortunately, Study Abroad Nations can help you out. As we have published many blog posts on various digital skills you can learn online and acquire a certification to show proof of your skills to employers and clients. You can earn a certification in computer science online or if data science is your thing then the IBM data science certification or Google’s data analytics professional certificate just might be what you need to get that boost in your career as a data scientist.

Getting one or more digital skills will also put you in the same demand as ethical hackers. You might end up offering your services to a giant tech company or go freelance and gain versatile experience from working with many clients from every part of the world.

Now, if you are just starting out as an ethical hacker with basic skills and want to expand your knowledge, gain more experience, get involved in more project and hands-on lab practicals, the free online ethical courses curated in this post will meet your demand and offer you what you want.

Also, if you have no basic knowledge or prior experience on ethical hacking but are fascinated by the field and want to learn what it is about, this post is also for you. And if you still fall in this category but looking to kick start a career in the field of ethical hacking, the free online ethical hacking courses described here can also help you get started.

Professional ethical hackers can also find something of interest in one of these free online ethical hacking courses, especially if you are looking to sharpen your memory on a particular subject or topic. You can also find this post useful if you are doing a project on ethical hacking, maybe writing a project for your high school science project.

Whichever category you fall into, just bear in mind that, first; the courses are free and won’t leave a hole in your pocket, and second; no knowledge is wasted. And with that, let’s get started with the free online ethical hacking courses.

What is Ethical Hacking?

In simple words, ethical hacking involves legally bypassing the security system of a network to identify potential data breaches and threats in a network and close them up before malicious hackers or cyber attackers can identify them. You know how cyberattacks happen, the hacker finds a breach or an opening in a computer system or network then uses it to get into the system and steal money, data, or whatever.

Cyberattack happens when there is an “illegal” entry into a secure network but ethical hacking is a “legal” entry into a secure network. Ethical hackers are given this authority by the owner of the system to check for a breach and seal it up before cyber attackers will identify the breach and use it as a way of getting into the system and committing criminal activities.

So, with ethical hacking, the maximum security of a network is guaranteed and due to the crazed number of cyberattacks going on, the demand for ethical hackers is on the rise. Basically, ethical hacking is one of the activities or branches involved in cybersecurity. With this, you may take an interest in our published post on free online cybersecurity courses with certificates that can equip you with skills on everything cybersecurity including ethical hacking.

The post here concentrates on just ethical hacking and the courses that you need to take that will take your career up the roof.

How to Become an Ethical Hacker

To become an ethical hacker, you must understand wired and wireless computer networks, be proficient with operating systems, understand firewalls and file systems, be familiar with servers, workstations, and computer science in general, and be able to demonstrate advanced cybersecurity technical skills.

With these skills, you can become an ethical hacker but to get the skills, you will need to get a degree in computer science. You may consider a masters in computer science as you can be able to choose cybersecurity (which also involves ethical hacking) as your focus.

Benefits of Learning Ethical Hacking

If you learn ethical hacking, these are the benefits that will come with it.

  1. You will be playing an important role in handling and securing the systems, data, and network of a company from threats and attacks.
  2. You will be in high demand and get to work with a wide range of individuals, companies, and organizations.
  3. You can be able to conduct investigations and analyses of target systems
  4. Help government agencies protect the infrastructure of the nation from extremists
  5. Earn a lot of money
  6. Develop a security software

How to Find Good Free Online Ethical Hacking Courses

You can find good free online ethical hacking courses on top online learning platforms such as Udemy, Coursera, edX, or Alison. The courses are usually offered by some of the best universities in the world.

Best Free Online Ethical Hacking Courses

The free online ethical hacking courses are:

  • Fundamentals of Computer Hacking
  • Introduction to Ethical Hacking
  • Ethical Hacker on Alison
  • Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking
  • Diploma in Ethical Hacking
  • Penetration Testing – Discovering Vulnerabilities
  • Ethical Hacking: Wireless Networks
  • Ethical Hacking with JavaScript
  • Ethical Hacking – SQL Injection Attack
  • Unlocking Information Security II: An Internet Perspective
  • Hacking and Patching
  • Network Security – Advanced Topics

1.    Fundamentals of Computer Hacking

Interested in pursuing a career in ethical hacking but lacking basic knowledge? You should consider this course on Fundamentals of Computer Hacking, it is one of the free online ethical hacking courses for beginners. The course also explores real-time attack vectors and defensive methods which you will gain knowledge from.

The free online course is a 2-hour video with 7 sections and 49 lectures. At the end of the course, you must have built your basic knowledge as a hacker. The course is offered by Udemy by an IT security organization.

Apply Here

2.    Introduction to Ethical Hacking

This is also one of the free online ethical hacking courses for beginners who want to build their skills and knowledge of legal hacking and protecting systems and networks from cybercriminals. The prerequisite to enroll for the course is having basic computer knowledge.

At the end of the course, the skills you will gain include process flow for ethical hacking, techniques used in ethical hacking, and bWAPP. The course is a 3-hour video with 1 quiz that you can complete on your own time.

Apply Here

3.    Ethical Hacker on Alison

Alison is one of the top online learning platforms with a host of free online courses. The course, Ethical Hacker, is one of the free online ethical hacking courses offered on the platform and basically teaches you to become an ethical hacker. Topics to be discussed include reconnaissance, security protocols, Microsoft Windows hacking, and many more.

The course also covers hands-on practicals where you will learn administrative, technical, and physical controls. Take the course today and gradually build up your skill as an ethical hacker.

Apply Here

4.    Penetration Testing and Ethical Hacking

This course is offered on Cybrary to cybersecurity specialists who are looking to gain ethical hacking skills or ethical hackers at the intermediate level who want to advance their career. Enrolling in this course will equip you with the skills to assess the strength of a system or network, perform scanning and enumeration, and show how an adversary could hack into a system.

With these skills, you will be well-prepared to enter the ethical hacking field and begin expanding your horizon.

Apply Here

5.    Diploma in Ethical Hacking

This is one of the free online ethical hacking courses provided by NPTEL and offered on Alison. The course is for those who are interested in networking and hacking ethically. To prepare you for the job position, the course teaches you what it takes to be an ethical hacker, the roles of an ethical hacker, and network vulnerabilities.

In just 10-15 hours, you can get equipped with the tools to use for network vulnerability assessment.

Apply Here

6.    Penetration Testing – Discovering Vulnerabilities

This is one of the free online ethical hacking courses offered by New York University (NYU) on edX. The course explores the fundamentals of penetration testing, introducing you to the various testing methodologies used in penetration, recognisance, and enumeration for penetration testers, scanning, and vulnerability enumeration.

The course is for those at the intermediate skill level and above. If you are done with the basic courses above, you can start with this and level up. The program is 100% online and self-paced, allowing you to complete it on your own time.

Apply Here

7.    Ethical Hacking: Wireless Networks

This is one of the free online ethical hacking courses offered on LinkedIn Learning which offers a 1-month free trial to interested learners. The course teaches how to identify and repair vulnerabilities in your wireless networks.

The course consists of 5 modules with take approximately 2 hours to complete. A certificate is offered upon completion of the course but it isn’t free.

Apply Here

8.    Ethical Hacking with JavaScript

This is another ethical hacking course from LinkedIn Learning. It isn’t like actually free but with the 1-month free trial available for new users, you can learn this course for free. The course is for advanced-level cybersecurity specialists or ethical hackers looking to advance their skills.

The free online course explores the vulnerability of a network, website, or application and the techniques and tools that you can use to find out these vulnerabilities and increase the security of your JavaScript code in the process. The course consists of 3 syllabi that you can complete in 1 hour or less. It is self-paced and comes with a paid certificate upon completion.

Apply Here

9.    Ethical Hacking – SQL Injection Attack

This is one of the free online ethical hacking courses on Udemy created by Sunil K. Gupta and Knowledge Academy. Through a 57-minute video, students are taught the basics of SQL injection attacks, use kali Linux database penetration test tools, and be able to perform SQL injection attacks.

There is no certificate for the free package unless you pay which also comes with other perks.

Apply Here

10. Unlocking Information Security II: An Internet Perspective

This is one of the free online ethical hacking courses offered by Tel Aviv University and Isreal X. It focuses on the vulnerability of the internet and the necessary tools used to protect and defend these vulnerabilities.

With a time commitment of 4-6 hours per week you can complete the course in 7 weeks but since it is self-paced, you can finish it on your own time. The course is free but you can only get the certificate when you pay a fee of $149 and unlimited access to the material.

Apply Here

11. Hacking and Patching

The University of Colorado, Boulder in collaboration with Coursera offers this free online hacking course where you will learn how to hack web apps with command injection vulnerabilities and gain a whole lot of professional ethical hacking skills. The course is for the intermediate-level experience or higher and takes approximately 15 hours to complete.

The course consists of four syllabi, 6 videos, and 1 quiz. You can earn a certificate upon completion.

Apply Here

12. Network Security – Advanced Topics

On our final list of free online ethical hacking courses is the course Network Security – Advanced Topics. It is for advanced level and explores topics in network security, security monitoring, perimeter security, and IPv6 and IPv6 security.

You can start the course at any time and take it anywhere you find convenient to learn. There’s a paid certificate of completion.

Apply Here

This wraps up the free online ethical hacking courses, links to apply or enroll for all of the courses have also been provided. You can take the courses at your own time, complete them at your own time, and take as many as you can handle.

Free Online Ethical Hacking Courses – FAQs

Is ethical hacking bad?

Ethical hacking isn’t bad, it helps to protect computer systems and networks from the bad guys by detecting loopholes before the bad guys do.

Where can I learn ethical hacking for beginners?

You can learn ethical hacking as a beginner from YouTube and online learning platforms like Coursera, Udemy, Alison, and edX.

How much do ethical hackers make?

The average annual salary of an ethical hacker ranges from $50,000 to $120,000 depending on your skill level.

How do I get a certificate in ethical hacking?

You can earn a certificate in ethical hacking when you join an ethical hacking course, complete the program, and take the quiz. When you complete all prerequisites, you can then be awarded a certificate.

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