Penetration tester career

Penetration testing is a career like no other. Whatever your future inclination, starting a professional career in penetration testing can be daunting for a fledgling ethical hacker. Pentesting is, as many will attest, fun work. But how will you perform when you have a team of colleagues counting on you and management on your back? Put simply; penetration testing is serious business, and career success in the realm of pentesting boils down to your attitude as much as your skills. The cultural meme that suggests all hackers are antisocial basement-dwellers is an image that ethical hackers are passively erasing from public consciousness as most offensive security experts are, in fact, highly eloquent, personally approachable, and good team players.

Create account Sign in. We're here from am to 5pm Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. On Wednesday we're open from am to 5pm. We're closed on public holidays. Call Chat online with a career expert. Email us with your career question.

The role of penetration tester will suit you if you're a lateral thinker and have excellent attention to detail, analytical skills and strong technical abilities. As a penetration tester, you'll simulate cyber attacks in order to identify and report security flaws on computer systems, networks and infrastructure, including internet sites. You may work in-house for large companies where system security is a crucial function. However, more commonly you'll work for a security consultancy or risk management organisation, where you'll work with external clients testing the vulnerability of their systems.

A Penetration Tester a. Pen Tester or Ethical Hacker probes for and exploits security vulnerabilities in web-based applications, networks and systems. Simply put, you get paid to legally hack.