CEH
Exam fee
$1199
≈ 947 GBP · 1,619 CAD · 1,103 EUR · rolling-avg FX; verify with your bank before any payment
Exam code
312-50
Renewal
3yr
The CEH is a cybersecurity certification from EC-Council with an exam fee of $1199 and a 3-year renewal cycle. Approved under DoD 8570. Built from the Bureau of Labor Statistics and EC-Council's official exam requirements.
About the CEH
CEH is the cybersecurity industry's most polarizing certification. EC-Council's Certified Ethical Hacker covers the attacker mindset, reconnaissance, scanning, enumeration, and common exploitation tooling. It is DoD 8140 approved for offensive work roles and carries name recognition with federal and enterprise HR filters. Practitioners often criticize it for being theoretical next to OSCP, but for a government or compliance-driven buyer, the accreditation matters more than the technical depth. I recommend it when the employer explicitly requests it or when you need a mid-tier offensive cert that ships with classroom training.
Who should earn it
Candidates targeting federal, defense, or large-enterprise offensive roles where CEH is explicitly required. Also useful for SOC analysts wanting offensive fundamentals without the OSCP time investment.
Exam details
- Provider
- EC-Council
- Exam code
- 312-50
- Questions
- 125
- Duration
- 4 hours
- Passing score
- 60-85% depending on form
- Exam fee
- $1,199 (verify with EC-Council)
- Renewal
- Every 3 years via CPE
- Experience level
- Mid
- DoD 8570/8140
- Approved
Prerequisites
Two years of information security experience or completion of the EC-Council CEH training course.
Key domains
- Information Security and Ethical Hacking Overview
- Reconnaissance Techniques
- System Hacking Phases and Attack Techniques
- Network and Perimeter Hacking
- Web Application Hacking
- Wireless and Mobile Platform Hacking
- Cloud Computing and IoT Hacking
- Cryptography
Federal and DoD relevance
The CEH is approved under DoD Directive 8570.01-M (now 8140), so cybersecurity roles supporting US Department of Defense information systems can use it to satisfy the baseline certification requirement for their IAT, IAM, or CSSP workforce category. That matters for federal contractors, cleared facilities, and agencies where 8140 compliance is a hiring gate.
Salary impact
CEH carries a 5-10% salary premium in federal and commercial-enterprise settings that require it by contract. In startup or product-security contexts it carries less weight than PenTest+ or OSCP.
Most relevant roles
This role lives inside a packaged path
Want the curriculum, comp delta, and recommended courses for this role?
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Certification details are sourced from official certifying body websites. Verify current pricing, exam format, and requirements directly with the certifying organization before making decisions. DecipherU is not affiliated with any certifying body.
Exam code 312-50. EC-Council publishes 8 domains: Information Security and Ethical Hacking Overview, Reconnaissance Techniques, System Hacking Phases and Attack Techniques, Network and Perimeter Hacking, Web Application Hacking, Wireless and Mobile Platform Hacking, Cloud Computing and IoT Hacking, Cryptography. Practice questions on DecipherU are grouped by those domains.
Up to 125 questions in 4 hours, with a passing score of 60-85% depending on form, according to EC-Council. Formats and counts change between exam versions, so confirm on the EC-Council site before you book.
EC-Council lists the exam fee at $1199 USD. Vouchers, bundles and regional pricing differ; the fee on the EC-Council site at checkout is the one that applies.
3 years, per EC-Council. Renewal is through continuing education credits or by passing a current exam; EC-Council sets the credit count and the deadline.
Two years of information security experience or completion of the EC-Council CEH training course.
Sources
- EC-Council official website · Certification pricing, exam format, and renewal requirements
- Bureau of Labor Statistics, Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, May 2024
Bridge to Applied AI
IAPP Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional
CEH covers offensive security tradecraft; AI red teaming applies that mindset to AI systems. Until vendor-specific AI red-team credentials standardize, the IAPP AIGP credential is the closest formal counterpart on the governance side of AI safety work.
Read the IAPP Artificial Intelligence Governance Professional guide →Related Cybersecurity Resources
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DecipherU's career insights are developed by Julian Calvo, Ed.D., M.S., with AI-assisted research and drafting, then reviewed and edited by DecipherU Editorial. Career and compensation data come from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, O*NET, and industry compensation databases. Assessment frameworks are grounded in peer-reviewed psychometric research, learning sciences (University of Miami), organizational learning (Barry University), and applied AI (Northeastern University). AI is used as a research and drafting tool; all methodology, framework design, scoring, and editorial standards are owned by the DecipherU team.