Introduction to Ethical Hacking Certificate Program

Johns Hopkins Engineering’s fully online Introduction to Ethical Hacking Certificate plunges you into the world of cybersecurity. Designed for hands-on problem solvers, this dynamic program teaches you how to uncover vulnerabilities, threats, and potential risks before attackers do—and how to protect systems with confidence. 

Guided by leading cybersecurity experts from the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, one of the nation’s premier centers for cyber operations, you’ll gain real-world insight into the tactics, tools, and techniques used by today’s adversaries. 

Across three expertly crafted courses—designed and taught by senior APL engineer Jason Crossland and fellow Johns Hopkins faculty—you’ll study the entire offensive cyber life cycle and associated phases of operations, as well as real-world tactics, techniques, and procedures used by advanced persistent threats (APT’s) and cyber actors.  You’ll also learn approaches to detect attacks and implement mitigation solutions and defense-in-depth strategies that reduce the overall attack surface, risk-to-system and risk-to-mission outcomes.  Every assignment mirrors real cyber-attack events, so the reports you build roll straight into information system doctrine. 

Your capstone drops you into Cyber Fin, a Fortune-500 firm reeling from ten different attacks resulting in the adversary maintaining persistence and establishing command and control (C2) of the company’s networks, assets, data and systems.  As the ethical hacker, you review data artifacts and findings to present prioritized mitigation strategies to ISSO and CIO’s in the form of an executive summary/penetration test report. 

Completing the program earns you a Johns Hopkins Certificate of Achievement and seven CEUs, plus a portfolio that closes the experience gap and propels you toward roles such as SOC analyst, penetration tester, certified ethical hacker, vulnerability scanner, security engineer, or threat hunter—while offering employers immediate gains in dwell-time reduction and alert efficiency. 

Program Highlights

• Real World Applications: Practice and refine your skills with practical projects in every course.
• Expert Guidance: Course designed and delivered by Hopkins faculty
• Flexible Online Format: Designed for busy professionals, offering the convenience to learn on your schedule.

No Risk: Satisfaction Guaranteed

Feel confident in your learning journey! If the course content is too advanced, not advanced enough, or simply doesn’t meet your expectations, we’ve got you covered with our money-back guarantee. Just contact our team within 7 days from purchase to receive a full refund—no questions asked.

Jason Crossland is a Senior Cybersecurity Engineer at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory with over 23 years of military and civilian experience in cybersecurity, information assurance, and systems engineering. He specializes in mission-focused cyber defense, incident response, and security program management for classified and unclassified systems.

Jason has taught for 11 years with the Johns Hopkins Engineering for Professionals program. His teaching approach focuses on making complex concepts accessible and practical, helping students apply theory directly to real-world professional challenges.

Jason is Here to Help!

Questions about course content? Looking for insight? Stop by monthly Zoom office hours to talk with Jason and fellow students about what you’re learning in the course and applications.

Earning Your Certificate

After completing the course content, you can successfully complete and submit a capstone project to earn your Certificate of Achievement—proving to colleagues and employers that you’re ready to take the lead in ethical hacking projects and challenges.

You will be given a series of data findings collected from various cybersecurity techniques which will highlight specific exploited vulnerabilities, the tactics, techniques & procedures (TTP’s) used, observations, lessons learned and recommended countermeasures.

The image is for illustrative purposes only. Actual certificate design subject to change,

The project will be reviewed by Jason, who will provide feedback which can be discussed further during live office hours.

Course Delivery and Support

The courses are delivered entirely online through the industry-leading Canvas Learning Management System. This system is supported by the same instructional design team behind Johns Hopkins’ renowned Engineering for Professionals program, which serves thousands of online graduate students each year. Upon registration, you will receive an email with instructions to create your Hopkins Canvas account and access the videos, readings, files and quizzes.