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Ethical Hacking: An Introduction

Learn the principles and methods of ethical hacking and penetration testing, and build your ethical hacking skills.

21,340 enrolled on this course

  • Duration

    2 weeks
  • Weekly study

    3 hours
This course is part of the program Ethical Hacking, which is one of the building blocks that leads to a degree in MSc Cyber Security. Find out more.

Explore the principles and methods of ethical hacking

What is ethical hacking? How does it work? What principles do ethical hackers follow? Answer these questions and more with the course introducing ethical hacking. You will have the opportunity to learn the principles of ethical hacking and consider its legal and methodological foundations.

You’ll also explore the processes and legal framework of penetration testing and take part in a simple exploitation exercise in the first of a series of carefully-constructed scenarios designed to develop your ethical hacking skills.

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What topics will you cover?

  • Introduction to ethical hacking
  • Legal aspects of penetration testing
  • Penetration testing methodologies
  • Practical hacking exercise

When would you like to start?

  • Date to be announced

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Learning on this course

On every step of the course you can meet other learners, share your ideas and join in with active discussions in the comments.

What will you achieve?

By the end of the course, you‘ll be able to...

  • Explore the principles and aims of penetration testing
  • Interpret the legal framework in relation to ethical hacking
  • Explore standard penetration testing methodologies
  • Perform a simple attack on a target machine

Who is the course for?

This course is for professionals and students who already have some knowledge of computer science – or a related discipline – and want to understand more about ethical hacking principles, practices and legislation.

This course is the first in the Ethical Hacking program, part of the MSc Cyber Security.

Who will you learn with?

Dr Dan Goldsmith is a Senior Lecturer in the Institute of Coding at Coventry University.
He teaches on the Ethical Hacking course, and his interests include Reverse Engineering, PenTesting and the IOT.

Dr. Christo Panchev is a Senior Lecturer in Cyber Security at Coventry University with more than 20 years experience in industry and higher education, research and teaching in A.I. and Cyber Security.

Antal Goldschmidt

Course Director, MSc Cyber Security; Coventry University
ab2216@coventry.ac.uk

Who developed the course?

Coventry University

Coventry secured 5 QS Stars for Teaching and Online Learning in the QS World University Ranking 2020 and has received No. 1 in the world for Massive Open Online Courses in MoocLab’s World University Ranking 2021.

  • Established

    1992
  • Location

    Coventry

Institute of Coding

The Institute of Coding is a family of learners, businesses and educators creating a new way to develop the digital skills needed at work and beyond.

Learning on FutureLearn

Your learning, your rules

  • Courses are split into weeks, activities, and steps to help you keep track of your learning
  • Learn through a mix of bite-sized videos, long- and short-form articles, audio, and practical activities
  • Stay motivated by using the Progress page to keep track of your step completion and assessment scores

Join a global classroom

  • Experience the power of social learning, and get inspired by an international network of learners
  • Share ideas with your peers and course educators on every step of the course
  • Join the conversation by reading, @ing, liking, bookmarking, and replying to comments from others

Map your progress

  • As you work through the course, use notifications and the Progress page to guide your learning
  • Whenever you’re ready, mark each step as complete, you’re in control
  • Complete 90% of course steps and all of the assessments to earn your certificate

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Advance your career with a degree

Since 2017 you have been able to take a degree on FutureLearn. This free course is a bit like a starter course for a degree — it should give you a flavour of the degree subject but can also be your first step towards a degree qualification.

If you enjoy this course you can apply to join the program it’s part of to start working towards a degree on FutureLearn.

Don’t worry, you can still take the course without doing a full degree!

Do the free course
Join and complete the program
Get academic credit for an online degree from Coventry University
This course is part of the program Ethical Hacking, which is one of the building blocks that leads to a degree in MSc Cyber Security.

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