You can see it againUnder pressure people bring back shapes and positions long after the wording has gone.
Picture superiority · Shepard 1967, Standing 1973
EC-COUNCILEC-Council Ethical Hacking Essentials
The EC-Council Ethical Hacking Essentials (EHE) certification is your entry point into the world of ethical hacking and penetration testing. This beginner-friendly program requires no prior IT or cybersecurity experience, yet it delivers hands-on skills through 47 guided labs and real-world CTF challenges. You'll learn to think like an attacker, understand the full hacking lifecycle, and validate your abilities with a globally recognized credential that sets you on the path to advanced certifications like CEH.
Exam formatProctored exam
DeliveryPearson VUE
Free questions1527
Content last reviewed 30 July 2026 · Up to date
The certification
What EC-Council Ethical Hacking Essentials proves, and what it asks of you
What this certification covers, who it is written for, and what the exam itself looks like on the day.
8domains
36objectives
234concepts
$299exam fee
What it is
What this certification is
What it validates, who it is written for, and the experience it assumes.
About this certification
The EC-Council Ethical Hacking Essentials (EHE) certification is an introductory cybersecurity program designed to build foundational knowledge and practical skills in ethical hacking and penetration testing. The curriculum covers information security fundamentals, threats and vulnerabilities, cryptography, malware analysis, password cracking, social engineering, network and web application attacks, wireless and mobile security, IoT and OT threats, cloud security, and penetration testing essentials. Through 12 comprehensive modules and 47 hands-on labs, learners gain real-world experience in a simulated environment, applying concepts and techniques that mirror actual attack scenarios.
Earning the EHE certification demonstrates that you possess the hands-on technical skills required to contribute as an entry-level cybersecurity professional. The program also includes a CTF-style capstone project that challenges you to apply your knowledge in live attack simulations, building true hacking proficiency. This certification is globally recognized and serves as a strong addition to your resume early in your career, providing a clear pathway to advanced EC-Council certifications such as the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH).
Who it’s for
The EHE certification is designed for individuals who are new to cybersecurity and want to start a career in ethical hacking or penetration testing. It is ideal for students, recent graduates, career switchers, and IT professionals looking to move into a security-focused role. The program is structured to be accessible to learners with no prior IT or cybersecurity experience, making it a perfect starting point for those who want to build a strong foundation in offensive security. This certification is also valuable for professionals in adjacent fields—such as network administration, software development, or systems engineering—who want to understand how attackers operate and how to defend against them. Whether you are a fresher seeking your first security credential or a professional looking to formalize your skills, EHE provides the practical, hands-on training needed to succeed in entry-level cybersecurity roles.
Recommended experience
No prior IT or cybersecurity experience is required. The course is designed for beginners and career switchers. Basic computer literacy and familiarity with operating systems; An interest in learning how hacking and security defenses work; No prior cybersecurity knowledge is assumed
The syllabus
What you’ll learn
Every domain and objective EC-Council measures, with the weight they carry on the exam.
The official EC-Council exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
Information Security and Ethical Hacking Foundations
- Overview of information security and defense strategies
- Threats, threat sources, and vulnerabilities
- Cryptography concepts
- Information security laws, regulations, and standards
- Hacking concepts and hacker classes
- Ethical hacking scope, methodologies, and frameworks
Malware and Password Attacks
- Malware concepts, types, and attack mechanisms
- Malware propagation techniques and indicators
- Malware countermeasures
- Password cracking techniques
- Password cracking countermeasures
Ethical Hacking Methodology
- Reconnaissance, footprinting, and OSINT techniques
- Scanning and enumeration methodologies
- Vulnerability scanning and assessment
- Gaining access, maintaining access, and covering tracks
- Countermeasures across hacking phases
Social Engineering
- Social engineering concepts and techniques
- Insider threats and identity theft
- Social engineering countermeasures
Network-Level Attacks and Countermeasures
- Packet sniffing concepts
- DoS and DDoS attack methods
- Session hijacking techniques
- Network attack detection and countermeasures
Web Application Attacks and Countermeasures
- Web server attacks
- Web application attack techniques and exploitation
- SQL injection attacks and countermeasures
Wireless, Mobile, IoT, and OT Attacks
- Wireless network security and attack techniques
- Bluetooth threats and wireless security risks
- Mobile attack vectors and vulnerabilities
- Mobile Device Management (MDM) and BYOD security
- IoT and OT attacks and countermeasures
Cloud Computing and Penetration Testing
- Cloud computing and containerization concepts
- Cloud computing threats and attacks
- Cloud attack countermeasures
- Types, phases, and approaches to penetration testing
- Penetration testing guidelines and recommendations
On the day
The exam itself
Everything EC-Council publishes about sitting it, and nothing we inferred.
Prerequisites
No mandatory prerequisites — this certification has no required predecessor exam or credential.
CertificationEC-Council Ethical Hacking Essentials
Exam formatProctored exam
DeliveryPearson VUE
LanguagesEnglish
Pricing$299
After you pass
Where this credential goes next
The path EC-Council lays out, how the credential is kept, and where to book.
Step-by-step path to EC-Council Ethical Hacking Essentials
Credential earnedEC-Council Ethical Hacking Essentials Certification Renewal and maintenance
EC-Council certifications require renewal through continuing education credits. Specific renewal requirements for EHE are not published on the official exam page. Stay current with the latest technologies and maintain your certification.
Learn more about renewal requirements Lifecycle status
This certification is currently active and available. EC-Council maintains this certification to validate current skills and industry relevance.
Exam status: ActiveMaintained by EC-Council
Exam registration
Register for the exam through Pearson VUE, EC-Council’s authorized testing partner.
Schedule your examVisit the official EC-Council certification page for exam policies and requirements.
View the official pageYour coach
And when you are serious, your coach Pip takes over
Your coach in the app reads what you have answered with the book closed and tells you one thing to do tonight. It will not count an answer you gave with the page open, and it will tell you when you are not ready.
See how the coach worksBefore you book
Questions people ask
How does the EHE certification relate to the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification?
EHE is an entry-level certification that builds foundational ethical hacking skills. It is designed as a stepping stone to the more advanced CEH certification, which covers the same topics in greater depth and is intended for professionals with more experience.
Do I need to earn the EHE certification before taking the CEH exam?
No, EHE is not a mandatory prerequisite for CEH. However, it is recommended for beginners to build foundational knowledge before pursuing CEH.
Is the EHE exam hands-on or lab-based?
The EHE course includes 47 guided labs and a CTF-style capstone project that simulate real-world scenarios. The exam itself is proctored, but the hands-on labs and capstone are part of the training and help validate practical skills.
What job roles does the EHE certification prepare me for?
EHE prepares you for entry-level cybersecurity roles such as security analyst, penetration testing trainee, or junior ethical hacker. It provides the foundational skills needed to start a career in offensive security.
Can I recertify by passing a higher-level EC-Council exam?
EC-Council certifications typically require renewal through continuing education credits. Passing a higher-level exam like CEH may satisfy renewal requirements, but specific policies for EHE are not published on the official page.
Is the EHE certification available globally?
Yes, EC-Council certifications are recognized in over 170 countries, and the EHE course and exam are available worldwide through EC-Council's training partners and Pearson VUE testing centers.
Information freshness · Content last reviewed on 2026-07-30 Up to date
Practice free questions 1527 questions, free, no account needed.
The curriculum
The whole exam, mapped and written
Every domain, every objective, and every concept EC-Council measures — each one written out.
8domains
36objectives
234concepts
318free pages
The domains, and what sits inside them
Every objective below is a page you can open and practise now, without an account.
The official EC-Council exam outline · checked 30 July 2026 · See the source
1Information Security and Ethical Hacking Foundations247 questions
Overview of information security and defense strategies7 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Threats, threat sources, and vulnerabilities6 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Cryptography concepts7 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Information security laws, regulations, and standards4 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Hacking concepts and hacker classes4 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Ethical hacking scope, methodologies, and frameworks3 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →
2Malware and Password Attacks218 questions
Malware concepts, types, and attack mechanisms6 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Malware propagation techniques and indicators5 concepts · 7 pagesOpen →Malware countermeasures12 concepts · 12 pagesOpen →Password cracking techniques10 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Password cracking countermeasures7 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →
3Ethical Hacking Methodology190 questions
Reconnaissance, footprinting, and OSINT techniques8 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Scanning and enumeration methodologies6 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Vulnerability scanning and assessment6 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Gaining access, maintaining access, and covering tracks3 concepts · 6 pagesOpen →Countermeasures across hacking phases6 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →
4Social Engineering138 questions
5Network-Level Attacks and Countermeasures181 questions
6Web Application Attacks and Countermeasures144 questions
7Wireless, Mobile, IoT, and OT Attacks231 questions
Wireless network security and attack techniques5 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Bluetooth threats and wireless security risks6 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Mobile attack vectors and vulnerabilities8 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →Mobile Device Management (MDM) and BYOD security8 concepts · 10 pagesOpen →IoT and OT attacks and countermeasures8 concepts · 11 pagesOpen →
8Cloud Computing and Penetration Testing178 questions
Cloud computing and containerization concepts6 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Cloud computing threats and attacks4 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →Cloud attack countermeasures8 concepts · 9 pagesOpen →Types, phases, and approaches to penetration testing3 concepts · 4 pagesOpen →Penetration testing guidelines and recommendations2 concepts · 8 pagesOpen →
Not a table of contents
Every line on this map already opens
In front of every objective the practice pages are already there, free and without an account. This is one objective, opened.
Overview of information security and defense strategies10 pagesOpen →
Free in front of it
50 questions on this objective, five to a page. Every range above is a real page, open now, with no account.
Reading the map is not the same as knowing the ground
The curriculum tells you what is on the exam. Proving you know it is a different job — and it is the one the closed-book run does.
Free questions
1527 questions. No account, no card.
The whole bank is open. 5 questions to a page, every answer explained, and a discussion thread on each one.
1527questions
318pages
36objectives
Freealways
Browse by domain
Every objective, and every page range, is a link — so you can pick up exactly where you left off.
1Information Security and Ethical Hacking Foundations247 questions
2Malware and Password Attacks218 questions
3Ethical Hacking Methodology190 questions
4Social Engineering138 questions
5Network-Level Attacks and Countermeasures181 questions
6Web Application Attacks and Countermeasures144 questions
7Wireless, Mobile, IoT, and OT Attacks231 questions
8Cloud Computing and Penetration Testing178 questions
What a practice page gives you
1Five to a page
Short enough to finish, long enough to matter.
2Every answer explained
Not only which one is right — why the others are wrong.
3A discussion on each
Ask, answer, and vote. Every question has its own thread.
A question, and the idea behind it
Every question comes from a concept
These are not trivia. Each one is written against a concept in the book, so when you get one wrong there is somewhere to go and find out why.
The visual book
See it once. Carry it into the exam.
The pages shown here come from our AI-900 book — an example of how each concept is written in plain language and, where the idea needs one, drawn as a full page you can take in at a glance.
234concepts
1527free questions
Why a picture, and not another paragraph
Three reasons, and each one is a real finding rather than a slogan.
You can see it againThe whole idea at onceWhere it starts, what happens in the middle, what comes out, and the mistake to avoid.
Multimedia principle · MayerThe look-alikes sit togetherThe pairs the exam tests are drawn side by side, so the difference is seen, not told.
Dual coding · PaivioWhat one page is made of
You are never asked to read a poster here — only to see how one is built. After that, every other page is legible at a glance.
1A numbered strip on top
The idea as a sequence, followed with a finger before a word is read.
2Panels for the parts
What it is, how the machine learns it, when it is the right tool.
3The trap, framed
The distinction the exam tests, given its own box instead of buried in prose.
4One line at the bottom
The sentence to carry into the exam room.
Open book, on purpose
Answer it with the picture beside you
This is the part that teaches. The illustration and the written explanation stay where they are while you work, so a scenario stops being a memory test and becomes something you can simply look at.
It teaches · it does not count
A smartphone uses AI to unlock when the owner looks at the camera. Which AI capability is being used?
AImage classification
BFacial recognition
COptical character recognition
DObject detection
Look at the five steps. Detect finds a face, align straightens it, encode turns it into numbers, search compares it with a stored face, and decide answers one question: is this the same person? Classification would only say “a face”. Detection would only draw a box. Neither decides whose.
Then the page shuts, and it starts counting
The same questions come back with the book closed — that run is the one that counts. After it, your coach picks one thing for tonight, sized to the time you have, and brings pages back before you lose them.
Testing effect · Roediger & Karpicke 2006 · spacing effect · Cepeda et al. 2006
Official resources
Straight from EC-Council
Where the exam is defined, scheduled and scored.
1official link
234concepts mapped
The source
EC-Council’s own pages
We link to them rather than repeat them, so nothing here goes stale behind them.
Checked against the source
Every objective on the official EC-Council outline already has questions here
We build from the official skills outline, not from a summary of it — 36 objectives, 234 concepts written under them, and free questions against every one. When EC-Council changes the outline, this page changes with it.
36objectives on the outline→234concepts written→1527free questions
An official page tells you what will be asked. It cannot tell you what you will get right.
That is the only question worth answering the night before, and no link answers it. You answer it by taking the questions with the book closed, and seeing what comes back.