How to Become a Penetration Tester (Ethical Hacker) in 2025

[@KyserClark]

What are you doing right now to become a penetration tester?

[@fernandoc8876]

You`re the buddy I was looking for to support and motivate me on my Pentester journey :D Great video man, subscribed! Love from UK/Brazil/PT.

[@KyserClark]

I'm glad I could help! Thanks for watching and commenting! :)

[@samratadhikari3223]

That fsociety mask is nice touch❤️

[@KyserClark]

Thank you! It was a gift from a friend and he knew it would be a killer part of the background for my videos.

[@cybersec1337]

Happy new year Mr. Clark! 🎉🎊

[@KyserClark]

Thank you! Happy New Year!!

[@CyberKali-m2r]

If you are paying CPTS > OSCP. If your company is paying get OSCP, pay for CPTS yourself. PNPT i have it, not impressed by the exam tbh, the course was good though.

[@KyserClark]

Thank you for the insights.

[@CineVibeshot]

⁷7⁷ii

[@poopsack199]

What didn’t you like about the PNPT?

[@haymmor1031]

i watched very much of this type of videos , they almost all the same but you're video is different ...... Thank You .

[@KyserClark]

I'm glad you found value in it. Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@sanphotos]

Thank you for the advice. I'm just months working as SOC analyst and my dream job is be Ethical hacker. someone said it will take years and years to land on a pantester role and I should look for another job instead but I am not stopping.

[@KyserClark]

You're already close to your goal being a SOC analyst! Keep up the great work and keep going!!

[@thealchemist5118]

Did you need any certifications to get this your soc analyst gig ?

[@cheesybeast1721]

@@thealchemist5118hell yes 😂😂 everybody wants to be a soc analyst right now so it’s VERY competitive.

[@Estl4na]

Such a great video, your advice is gold for me!!! Thank you ❤

[@KyserClark]

Glad it was helpful! Thanks for watching and commenting.

[@Estl4na]

@ I must say, you inspired me to come back to Linkedln and keep on posting more. I love your content and mindset, please keep on sharing more! You are so cool

[@kodai7856]

Thank you for this video 👍

[@KyserClark]

My pleasure. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@sandeepss5084]

Thank you sir🙏

[@KyserClark]

You're Welcome! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@danielkatalausha1781]

This helped a lot 💯

[@KyserClark]

I'm glad it helped!

[@BeauWilliams-ir6rx]

Thank you for this!

[@KyserClark]

My pleasure!

[@mainguyen4152]

Very good knowledge and thanks for sharing

[@KyserClark]

I'm glad you found it valuable. Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@ekpeedidiong6142]

Wonderful video!!

[@KyserClark]

I'm glad you like it. Thank for watching and commenting.

[@diginalunlimited]

Good video, I enjoyed. Keep up the work, and never give up!🎉Any tips on how to find your hacker methodology? Had guys talk about it on reddit

[@KyserClark]

Man that's a good question. I can't really explain it in a KZbin comment, but I'll address this in a future video. Thanks for the video idea. Stay tuned!

[@diginalunlimited]

@@KyserClark will be tuned

[@janejutsu]

Thanks!!!

[@KyserClark]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@itzpsych0513]

Hey Mr. Clark, thank you for this wonderful video. I have 2 questions that i would be thankfull if you answered. First one is more personal, how much do you make on average per year. Second is, i got rejected from a very important internship, it was a very good opportunity and i failed at the very last stage where only 3 out of 9 contestants were accepted. I have now hit a "motivation wall" and i only wanna keep moving forwad with some projects, HackTheBox training and in a couple of months, finish CPTS. I am very skilled in entry level requirements for PT but thats it. What would be your specific short tips for a guy in my position. Thank you very much.❤

[@KyserClark]

For the 1st question. I don't feel comfortable detailing my salary in a public discussion like this. For the 2nd part. Don't let rejection beat you. Keep applying for jobs and internships while also building up your skills. With enough time and effort, you will land something eventually. Most people quit, so eventually you'll beat your competition because you're still in the game and they are not. If you give up, then you won't get what you want. Giving up and "hitting a motivation wall" is not an option.

[@itzpsych0513]

Yes, im sorry for the first question and thank you for specifying yhat. Indeed, ill try to build up my career and build a network on linkedin. Is there any specific action which helped you a lot in your early years?

[@KyserClark]

Studying every day and getting as many certifications as possible and then posting about my certification journeys once I got the cert.

[@itzpsych0513]

Thank you very much sir.

[@khalidkabbad]

Thanks

[@KyserClark]

You're welcome! Thanks for watching and commenting!

[@consumerextraordinaire8209]

what's a good way to get security clearance for those who aren't military?

[@KyserClark]

I'll be honest with you. I have no idea. I'll have to do some research on this and get back to you. Off the top of my head I think you just get a company to sponsor you, or you could fork the money over and get one done yourself. But I'm not certain. Sorry :(

[@Reggi3Led0ux]

I work in space intelligence as an Electrician and had to get a clearance. Never did I think being an electrician I would have to get one.

[@Sh3_gags]

Does Pen Testing also include like physical pen Testing as well?? What I mean by that though is something breaking in to places for security checks

[@KyserClark]

Good question! This video doesn't cover Physical Pentesting. I don't have much exposure to physical pentesting, but I think checking out Red Team Alliance Training and Certifications are a good start!

[@Sh3_gags]

@KyserClark thank you so much sir I'm definitely curious about careers especially the physical stuff I like the idea of traveling

[@k_usuan]

Got my A+ Net+ and almost done with the CPTS path and going to focus more on web and go through ports swigger and CBBH and makes the BSCP my future cert . What do you think about it Kyser?

[@KyserClark]

Sounds like a solid plan! I didn't mention BSCP in the video, but it's a cert worth looking at. Good luck and let me know how it turns out!

[@k_usuan]

@ great contents and I must say you did great this year . Well done! Bravo

[@edrisampuan7480]

Can you please include other certs like - CRTO, CRTL, CRTP, CRTE, CRTM?

[@KyserClark]

This is why i mentioned that there are over 400 certs, I can't put all certs into the video, plus these would be in the Advanced certifications category and these are certs you would get after becoming a pentester imo. Thanks for mentioning them, they are absolutely valid certs you can get!

[@orregev4690]

What about start from soc ? And if I do degree in computer science does it to op for cyber security I want to be security researcher or pen tester

[@KyserClark]

If you area in a SOC. You already have a head start. I would say get the offensive security certs (from the intermediate cert section) next.

[@columbia540]

Are pretty much all USA pentester jobs remote?

[@KyserClark]

Good question. No, I'd say most are in person or Hybrid. A good portion require security clearance and must be done in person.

[@SanchezLuto]

Can i get a job as a pen tester remotely

[@KyserClark]

Yeah my pentest internship was 100% remote and my current job is about 92% remote. (Travel 4 weeks out of the year)

[@bhanuprakashpinnamaneni1887]

I am looking to buy a laptop like 16gb ram 1tb ssd so can anyone suggest me?

[@KyserClark]

Sorry, I can't help much here. I'm not up to date on the best laptop deals right now. I suggest going to NewEgg and searching for deals there.

[@johnsullivan6806]

Go business class Lenovo T series and 1 T byte no good need 2. All the info you’re saving to cybersecurity will eat up a 1 T

[@sonnycrockett4596]

Am I required to have autism?

[@KyserClark]

LOL I think most of us in this field have at least a little autism, so probably yes.

[@HuntrOffSec]

would you says its a optimal route te become a web app pentester doing PJPT ... PWAP not doing PNTP and going for OSCP? or its a must or better to go PJPT --- PNTP -- PWAP and then OSPC? Looking to do bug bountys and web pentest.... Ive heard good things about cbbh but i know its not recognized enough? Thanks for reply in advance! Im beginner so looking to get a path with just one cert per level of difficulty . Though if i need to start working in order to pay for my OSCP would it be better to have PJPT and PNPT ? or PJPT and PWAP? Thanks again

[@KyserClark]

I'm assuming here that you mean PWPA when you say PWAP... If you want to be exclusively a web app pentester and to do bug bounty hunting, then you can pass up on the Network Pentest certs such as OSCP, PJPT, PNPT, CPTS, eJPT I would do a track like this for web app testing: PWPA > OSWA > PWPP > CBBH > BSCP OSCP is a nice addition for a general overview of network testing and for recognition, but there is very little web app testing in OSCP. The track in this video is more about being a Network pentester first, then getting into web apps later. Which is the route I took since I'm a jack of both trades and I don't specialize in one or the other. I believe the chance of landing your first pentest job increases the more broad you go with your skills, however, there are people who only do network pentests and there are people who only do web app pentests.

[@HuntrOffSec]

@@KyserClark Yep totally! Thanks Kyser! Question . Do you thinks its better to full pentester path then go for a niche like web hacking because studying to become only a web pentest will narrow chances to get jobs? also its debate on how much code do you need to do bug bountys and or web hacking. Like HTML, JAVA,JAVA SCRIPT, PHP. I dont know how to code, but is reading code and knowing how it works is enough? thanks for replys amazing path youve taken

[@KyserClark]

There is no correct answer to being a generalist or being a specialist. I like being a general pentester (someone who can do Network Pentesting, Web App pen testing, and Wifi Penteting) This has opened doors for me that might not be open for people who specialize. BUT I'm not as good as a web app pentester as someone who ONLY does web app pentesting. Or someone who ONLY does Network pentesting. These types of people can do deeper than me on a pentest, which in a way makes them more valuable than me. But despite my expertise in one particular area, I offer a lot of value to my company because I can do a wide variety of projects, which offers a lot of flexibility. Being someone who can do web apps, and networks has been a solid move for me, and I belive it does open the most amount of doors. But I might be limiting my pay ceiling because I haven't reach expert status in an area yet. There are trade offs to everything, so this question is hard to answer. I know people who are thriving as specialist and have no interest in becoming a generalist. When it comes to coding. I think having a base skillset is essential. You can never have too much coding skills in pentesting. Howver, you don not have to be a developer when you first start out. I would say, get an intermediate understanding of coding, code a few small projects, and learn how to script. After that, if you like it, you can go deeper. If you don't like coding much, staying at the intermediate level is okay, you don't need to be an expert coder to be a great ethical hacker. But make no mistake, all great hackers are also good coders.

[@HuntrOffSec]

@@KyserClark Thanks again Kyser! Any chance you know if people who specialize in web apps or do bug hunting got a job just by doing that? really thiking deep if to go only web app pentest path