An area that is being scrutinized as a more effective method of educating and preparing security professionals is that of ethical hacking. The purpose of this research is to examine a more proactive approach to adequately prepare future information security professionals. Future careers in security may require that professionals be equipped with the necessary skill sets to combat an ever-growing presence of unwanted activity throughout the Internet. Many argue that future information security professionals need to have the same skill sets as attackers in order to adequately recognize and defend networks from intrusion. This research defines ethical hacking and examines the pros and cons of ethical hacking pedagogy as a viable approach for teaching network security to future professionals. The analysis includes the concept of ethical hacking education with an emphasis on ethical and legal concerns associated with ethical hacking pedagogy. The research concludes with an overview of existing best practices in ethical hacking education highlighting a hands-on approach as well as the inclusion of soft skills needed to complement the technical hard skills for future information security professionals
