How to become an ethical hacker ~For beginners~

You need essential prerequisite knowledge
If you want to get into the IT security world as
a white hat you must be competent in the
following areas:

• Networking
  
• Programming
  
• Databases
  
• Operating systems (Linux and Windows)
  
  Once you have a fairly good knowledge of the
  above points THEN it would a good idea to
  learn about hacking. So now you have a good
  understanding of the fundamentals of IT, you
  can now understand how to break some of the
  underlying vulnerabilities within computer
  architecture. The following activities should
  help you with this:
  
  Read books about hacking (Here are some good examples of some)
  
• The Web Application Hacker's Handbook:
  
• Finding and Exploiting Security Flaws
  Hacking: The Art of Exploitation, 2nd
  Edition
  
• The Basics of Hacking and Penetration
  
• Testing: Ethical Hacking and Penetration
  Testing Made Easy
  
• Metasploit: The Penetration Tester's Guide
  
• CEH Certified Ethical Hacker All-in-One
  Exam Guide
  
• Google Hacking for Penetration Testers
  
  Undertake FREE ethical hacking courses.
  These are very good for learning but won't
  give you an industry recognised qualification,
  however they will teach you a lot about
  different areas of ethical hacking which will
  help towards recognised qualifications.
  
  You can register for a free Cibrary account to
  do a free ethical hacking course at the
  following link –
  
  Click Here To Register
  
  Undertake Recognised Online courses
  These course are all paid for, however they are
  industry recognised and will help you find a
  job in the IT security sector.
  
• CEH
  
• OSCP
  
• CISSP
  
  Self learn by watching online tutorials
  www.securitytube.net
  www.youtube.com
  
  Download practice environments to practice
  and hone newly learned skills
  
• DVWA (Dam Vulnerable Web Application)
  
• Metasploitable2
  
• Samurai WTF
  
  Final note: Hacking is something that takes A
  LOT of your time!, be prepared to sacrifice
  friendships, relationships and that awesome
  social life you used to have! ;)