Pentester- work and earnings.

Penetration testing can be counted among one of the most popular forms of work in the security industry. What does the work of a pentester look like and who is actually such a person? What qualifications and tools do you need to have in order to apply for the position of a person known as "that good hacker"? You will learn the answers to these and other questions in this article.

What does a pentester do?

A pentester is engaged in looking for weaknesses in a company's IT system, thus protecting it from a real hacking attack. It performs so-called penetration tests. These are activities that are designed to find and identify possible programming errors. Such unintentional shortcomings occur in many applications and IT systems that are used by various companies on a daily basis. A pentester's job is to create malware and test IT systems in order to stay one step ahead of cybercriminals. It is worth realizing that the list of such potential bugs in systems is growing every day.

Pentester's main tasks include:

web security checks;

analyzing system vulnerabilities and combating them;

creating malware for testing purposes under laboratory conditions;

creating reports and presentations from his work;

continually improving one's competence in the cybersecurity field.

How to become a Pentester?

It will be easier for you to become a Pentester with a degree in computer science or experience as a programmer, tester, analyst, or network administrator. You can also finish special certification courses (CEH), which will allow you to become certified as an ethical hacker and start a career as a Pentester. What you need to know before applying for this position are:

Knowledge of SQL Injection and similar;

HTTP Request Smuggling;

Reflected File Download;

Have the right equipment or make sure the company provides one.

How much does a pentester earn?

A beginner pentester can expect a salary of up to 6.5-7 thousand zlotys net per month. A more experienced specialist can earn 4 or even 5 times as much. The earnings of a pentester are not low. Why? Because companies and corporations in many industries invest really considerable sums on practical IT solutions. However, as years of experience have shown, many software vendors focus primarily on the functionality and quality of applications, unfortunately treating security issues a little bit neglected. What is the result? Lamentable. Because in the event of a hacker attack, a company using such software can suffer huge financial losses. This is why many companies realize that the role of a pentester cannot be overestimated.