Uncle Sam is looking for a few good hackers.

The U.S. federal government is fighting a cyberwar against those who infiltrate secure networks, steal data and use their computer skills for nefarious purposes. It's a war that doesn't involve munitions, hand-to-hand combat or air cover. It involves strategic espionage, clandestine operations and a group of highly trained professionals known as certified ethical hackers.

Of course, landing a job with the federal government that involves state-sponsored cyber (espionage requires clearance) and that means fulfilling the U.S. Department of Defense's DoD 8570 and DoD 8410 requirements.

The Requirements

The DoD 8570 Directive, which is known as the Information Assurance Workforce Improvement Program and has recently been replaced by the DoD 8140 Directive, requires Department of Defense employees and contractors to obtain certifications in their areas of professional specialization.

The certification requirements are especially important for IT professionals who wish to work in cybersecurity because they work to uncover weaknesses in the government's IT systems by using the same malicious attack techniques used by criminals. The government wants to be sure you have the skills and knowledge to do the job well and ethically.

DoD 8570 and 8140 certify your abilities in seven critical areas, according to the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies:

• Security Provision, which includes IA assurance compliance, software, enterprise architecture, technology demonstration, system requirement planning, test and evaluation, and system development.
• Operate and Maintenance, which includes data administration, information system security management, knowledge management, customer and technology support, network services, system administration, and systems security analysis.
• Protect and Defend, which includes computer network device, incident response, CND infrastructure support, security program management, and vulnerability assessment and management.
• Analyze, which includes cyber threat analysis, exploitation analysis, targets, and all-source analysis.
• Operate and Collect, which includes collection operations, cyber operational planning, and cyber operations.
• Oversight and Development, which includes legal advice and advocacy, strategic planning and policy, and education and training.
• Investigate, which includes investigation and digital forensics.

These seven, high-level categories include more than 30 tasks that need to be fulfilled in order to achieve certification.

Anyone who works for the Office of the Secretary of Defense, U.S. military, Office of the Inspector General of the DoD, defense agencies or any other organization affiliated with the DoD must be compliant with the certification requirements for the particular job function they'll be performing before being hired.

Which requirements apply to you will depend on your role. For example, Microsoft certification is required for Microsoft support technicians, Cisco certification for Cisco technicians. This means finding the right course to achieve certification as efficiently as possible is important.

The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Course

One course designed to help you meet the DoD requirements in 8570 and 8410 is the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) course. It's designed to validate your knowledge of cyber threats to the country's national security. This can include information security threats, foot printing, scanning networks, enumeration, system hacking, Trojans and backdoors, viruses, worms, sniffers, and more.

The four-hour course culminates in a multiple-choice exam--and it meets the requirements of Dod 8570 and 8140. When you commit to achieving certification through the CEH course, you will have access to top industry certified instructors, authorized course materials and practice exams available around the clock. Regardless of what role you hope to play in the cyberwar against malicious hackers, the course will help you achieve the proper certification.

Prepare for Cyberwar

There is a war being fought, but it's not taking place on a battlefield. It's being fought by ethical hackers who use their skills and knowledge to counteract and counterattack hackers with nefarious intentions.

If you are ready to answer Uncle Sam's call to action and help protect your country, connect with Infotec today and learn more about becoming a certified ethical hacker.

For more information about Infotec or any of our programs click here: http://www.infotectraining.com/ or https://ops.infotecpro.com/course_schedule/course_schedule.cfm.