CEH — Certified Ethical Hacker (exam 312-50)
CEH is EC-Council's multiple-choice ethical hacking certification. It tests broad theoretical knowledge of attack phases, tools and countermeasures rather than hands-on exploitation. It is the credential most often named in Indian job advertisements, government empanelment lists and defence-adjacent tenders, which is the main practical reason people take it.
Last updated: 6 August 2026
The facts
| Vendor | EC-Council |
|---|---|
| Level | Intermediate |
| Format | 125 multiple-choice questions in 4 hours, at a Pearson VUE centre or online-proctored through the ECC exam portal. The cut score is scaled per question bank and generally falls between 60% and 85%, so there is no single fixed pass mark. |
| Cost | Upper-mid band. The exam voucher alone typically runs into the mid hundreds of US dollars; official training bundles run several times that. India-facing packages from EC-Council partners vary widely and often bundle courseware you may not need. Add roughly a hundred US dollars if you use the experience-waiver application route. Confirm all current figures with EC-Council or an authorised partner before paying anyone. |
| Validity / renewal | Three years. Renewal needs 120 ECE (continuing education) credits across the cycle plus an annual EC-Council membership fee. Credits come from training, conferences, writing and other verifiable professional activity. |
| Prerequisites | Two official routes. Route one: complete EC-Council official training, which removes the experience requirement. Route two: apply for the eligibility waiver with at least two years of documented information security work experience and pay a non-refundable application fee; approval typically takes several business days and, once granted, is valid for a limited window in which you must buy the voucher. |
Vendors revise prices, formats and eligibility. Always confirm on the vendor's own site before you pay — including against this page.
Is it worth it?
CEH proves you can recognise the vocabulary and methodology of offensive security across a very wide syllabus. In India its real function is as an HR and tender filter: recruiters, PSUs, banks and police cyber cells screen resumes for the letters, and many job descriptions list it by name. It rarely convinces a technical interviewer on its own, but it gets your CV read, which is not nothing.
The downside
It is a multiple-choice exam about hacking, not a hacking exam. Passing does not prove you can compromise anything, and experienced practitioners know that. It is expensive relative to what it demonstrates, the renewal fees are perpetual, and the marketing around it in India is aggressive. If nobody in your target job market screens for it, cheaper certifications teach you more per rupee.
Compared to
| Versus | Verdict |
|---|---|
| OSCP | Opposite instruments. CEH is recognised by recruiters and HR systems; OSCP is respected by the people who would actually be your teammates. If your goal is a penetration testing job, OSCP carries far more technical weight; if your goal is passing a government or corporate eligibility filter, CEH is more often the one named. |
| CompTIA Security+ | Security+ is cheaper, vendor-neutral, defence-oriented and widely accepted by multinationals and US-linked employers. CEH is more offensive in flavour and more visible in Indian job listings. For a beginner with limited money, Security+ usually gives more career surface per rupee unless a specific listing demands CEH. |
| CEH Practical | CEH Practical is the hands-on companion that answers the biggest criticism of CEH. Holding both earns CEH Master. If you can afford only the theory paper you get the filter value; adding Practical is what makes the credential mean something technically. |
| eJPT | eJPT costs a fraction of CEH and is fully hands-on, so it teaches more. But it has close to zero recognition with Indian HR departments. Many people do eJPT for the skill and CEH for the filter. |
Where we fit
We teach a CEH-aligned ethical hacking course covering the same domains, with live hands-on labs. We are an independent training institute: we are not an EC-Council accredited training centre, we do not issue CEH, and we do not sell or resell exam vouchers. If you want the credential you buy the voucher and apply directly through EC-Council. Amit Kumar holds CEH himself and teaches from that syllabus plus practical work.
We issue no vendor certification and resell no exam vouchers. Buy from the vendor.
CEH — FAQs
Is CEH worth it in 2026?
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Can I take the CEH exam without official training?
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CEH karne ke baad job pakki milegi kya?
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Does Cyber Defence Academy issue the CEH certificate?
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Not sure if CEH is the right next step?
Free call. If the honest answer is a cheaper certification, or six more months of lab work before you pay anyone, that is what you will hear.
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