Files
ethical-hacker/references/skills.md
2026-08-14 17:33:51 +02:00

4.5 KiB

Competences — ethical hacker

Source: ESCO v1.2.1 occupation-skill relations (http://data.europa.eu/esco/occupation/76ef0a87-6afe-4560-b5d0-9a086abe45c5).

Essential

  • address problems critically (skill/competence)
  • analyse the context of an organisation (skill/competence)
  • attack vectors (knowledge)
  • building systems monitoring technology (knowledge)
  • communicate with stakeholders (skill/competence)
  • computer forensics (knowledge)
  • computer programming (knowledge)
  • conduct ICT code review (skill/competence)
  • cyber attack counter-measures (knowledge)
  • cyber security (knowledge)
  • develop code exploits (skill/competence)
  • engage with stakeholders (skill/competence)
  • ethical hacking principles (knowledge)
  • ethics (knowledge)
  • execute ICT audits (skill/competence)
  • execute social engineering tests (skill/competence)
  • execute software tests (skill/competence)
  • ICT infrastructure (knowledge)
  • ICT network security risks (knowledge)
  • ICT security standards (knowledge)
  • ICT system integration (knowledge)
  • identify ICT security risks (skill/competence)
  • identify ICT system weaknesses (skill/competence)
  • implement ICT risk management (skill/competence)
  • information security strategy (knowledge)
  • legal requirements of ICT products (knowledge)
  • manage system security (skill/competence)
  • monitor system performance (skill/competence)
  • operating systems (knowledge)
  • penetration testing tool (knowledge)
  • perform ICT security testing (skill/competence)
  • security engineering (knowledge)
  • software anomalies (knowledge)
  • tools for ICT test automation (knowledge)
  • use scripting programming (skill/competence)
  • web application security threats (knowledge)

Optional

  • Aircrack (penetration testing tool) (knowledge)
  • Backbox (penetration testing tool) (knowledge)
  • BlackArch (knowledge)
  • Cain and Abel (penetration testing tool) (knowledge)
  • define security policies (skill/competence)
  • hybrid model (knowledge)
  • ICT encryption (knowledge)
  • ICT safety (nan)
  • ICT security legislation (knowledge)
  • implement a firewall (skill/competence)
  • implement ICT security policies (skill/competence)
  • information confidentiality (knowledge)
  • internet governance (knowledge)
  • Internet of Things (knowledge)
  • John The Ripper (penetration testing tool) (knowledge)
  • Kali Linux (knowledge)
  • levels of software testing (knowledge)
  • maintain ICT server (skill/competence)
  • Maltego (knowledge)
  • manage cloud data and storage (skill/competence)
  • manage IT security compliances (skill/competence)
  • Metasploit (knowledge)
  • Nessus (knowledge)
  • Nexpose (knowledge)
  • Open source model (knowledge)
  • organisational resilience (knowledge)
  • Outsourcing model (knowledge)
  • OWASP ZAP (knowledge)
  • Parrot Security OS (knowledge)
  • perform project management (skill/competence)
  • proxy servers (knowledge)
  • remove computer virus or malware from a computer (skill/competence)
  • Samurai Web Testing Framework (knowledge)
  • service-oriented modelling (knowledge)
  • set up cybersecurity training programmes (skill/competence)
  • solve ICT system problems (skill/competence)
  • WhiteHat Sentinel (knowledge)
  • Wireshark (knowledge)

Market evidence (job-ad analysis, 13 ads, as of 2026-07-11)

Share of analyzed job ads mentioning the item (threshold ≥ 20 %). Source: JSearch/Adzuna APIs.

Hard skills

  • penetration testing — 69 %
  • network security — 38 %
  • ethical hacking — 38 %
  • vulnerability identification — 38 %
  • threat analysis — 31 %
  • vulnerability assessment — 31 %
  • exploit development — 23 %
  • code review — 23 %
  • cyber hunt — 15 %
  • adversary emulation — 15 %
  • network security analysis — 15 %
  • red team operations — 15 %
  • risk management — 15 %
  • security analysis — 15 %
  • security engineering — 15 %
  • system exploitation — 15 %

Methods

  • tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) — 15 %
  • vulnerability exploitation — 15 %
  • opfor actions — 15 %

Responsibilities

  • vulnerability identification — 31 %
  • technical documentation — 23 %
  • penetration testing — 23 %
  • mentor junior assessors — 15 %
  • risk reporting — 15 %
  • scenario development — 15 %
  • vulnerability exploitation — 15 %
  • threat prediction — 15 %
  • tooling development — 15 %