CEH v8 FAILED EXAM - Was version 9 - How to Resolve

cyberguypr

Here's your mistake: "regarded EC council as a very professional institution"

IronmanX

divya.n116 wrote: »

same issue as you guys have mentioned here i had. my point of contact person never even had mentioned about the new version neither did i think that EC council will act in such lowly way. i regarded EC council as a very professional institution but turns out its not the case. when i tried to explain the problem they started with denial and never came on an agreement for the same.

cherylann has a way of beating around the bush and not solving the issue, i think they just wanna earn more money thats all. more than educational institue they are acting as a money minting institute.

asking me to pay $349 for retake exam but wont even provide CEHv9 material and i have to pay extra for that, what the hell... its like they are preparing me to fail..

i am filling a consumer court case against these fruads as they have versions writen all over their materials, vouchers communications but denying it(what the hell is V8 V9, magic numbers?)

i want a retest conducted for CEHv8 or retest with V9 materials. i am fighting for my right.

A deemed security institute acting like this and neglecting so many students is pathetic.

What areas did you have trouble in?
What did you use to study?


What is your work experience? This certification is meant for people already in the field. Having a couple of years in quality assurance is not going to help you much with this exam. That said it should still be doable it is just going to be hard.

Some how I don't think a court case in India is going to help you much.

Spacewalk

If you used MasterCard or Visa you should dispute the charge with your bank and explain why, they will isshue you a temporary credit and decide for themselves weather the fee should be paid. You paid for version 8 exam which you had utilized various textbook and materials to prep for. You paid for CEHv8 exam and did not receive what you paid for, but instead was a different product CEHv9, the test maker and test center should not profit for lack of planning, fairness and stacking the deck against you. Worst case the bank will say is no, best yes. If enough people complain about this visa and MasterCard will get sick of them and pressure them to do what they are suppose to do which is tell you what you buying and sticking to it. If they wanna have us test for v9 then release study material first to allow study, not extort money first then have us study later.

epdavis

I took the official ECCouncil V8 CEH boot camp back in August and have been studying off and on since then. I finally took the test today and got a 65% (fail). I assumed my voucher was for the V8 test. I am stunned that I have failed. My reaction when I was taking the test was "what the heck." I felt like what I studied and what I saw on the test were two different animals. I reiterated many times to Pearson-Vue prior to the test - "Please make sure I am taking the V8 test not the V9 test."

A little about myself. I have been working in the industry for many years. I currently have a CISSP, ITIL, Sec+ and A+ that are current. I have expired MSCE Server 2003, CCNA and Sun Solaris certifications. Due to the shift in my roles moving to a more managerial role/cyber security I have let my vendor specific certifications expire. I will take the CASP Boot Camp in March (my employer had some training money and my schedule lined up for that particular course). I don't claim to be the smartest guy in the world, but I am well respected by those that work for me, my colleagues and those I report to.

After passing the CISSP I thought this would be a walk in the park, although I did study very hard. I think it was my background alone that let me score a 65%, because it sure wasn't what I studied.

I have no problem with certification tests being upgraded and changed over time. My complaint is that I studied with official ECCouncil V8 materials and I assumed my voucher was for was the V8 test. It was not. To be honest, I feel like there has been some sleight of hand. I have sent an email to ECCouncil. I'm at a point where I don't think I could recommend this test to colleagues and co-workers based on my experience. I should have been tested on the body of knowledge that was part of my official ECC boot camp. Other vendors will let you know what version of a test you are taking. It is up to you to remain current though CEU's, PDU's etc. I don't enjoy bashing others, but I feel as if I have been cheated.

At least with the CASP, I know if I am studying to take CAS-002, I will be tested on CAS-002. Yes, some questions may change over time, but it won't feel like I am taking a completely different test.

epdavis

I got an email back from EC-Council that was about the same as everyone else's. Discount on retake, cost of their new courseware etc. Third party training guides for the new version of the course haven't caught up yet and the official ECCouncil training courses are nothing more than death by slides at an extremely high cost. I have made my decision to not pursue this certification based on what I deem unethical practices. As a DoD employee that makes recommendations on training courses, I will also recommend we do not approve funds for this course UNTIL these issues have been worked out. We have sent quite a few folks through the CEH V8 boot camp who still had time on their approved vouchers. We have had several personnel already fail the new version of the test for the same reasons mentioned. These are talented folks who have been working in the field for years. To be transparent, we have had some personnel pass also, but most of them felt it was by sheer luck and also felt the test did not represent anything they had studied. As a good steward of dwindling training dollars, I cannot recommend we send personnel through this course until these issues are resolved.

As mentioned previously, Cyber Security is an ocean with many sub-disciplines. A test has to have a point in time reference and left and right parameters. To simply say someone should know everything is not a valid argument. No one knows everything. It is up to you to continually pursue continuing education units through self-study and some of the free training opportunities (DISA has many excellent courses that are free of charge to the military, DoD employees and DoD contractors). FedVTE is also another training venue.

I have had good experiences with ISC2, PMI, CompTIA, Microsoft, Cisco, and other vendors who are forthright in upcoming changes to certification tests and which version of a test you will be taking when you sit the exam (ie SYO-301 vs SYO 401).

JockVSJock

Googling around looking for info on CEH v9.

Alot of hits points back to this thread...the geeks are restless...lookout!!! I wonder how long it will be before this post is deleted.

IronmanX

JockVSJock wrote: »

Googling around looking for info on CEH v9.

Alot of hits points back to this thread...the geeks are restless...lookout!!! I wonder how long it will be before this post is deleted.

pfff if they where true geeks they would have passed. Even Kirk passed the kobayashi maru.

People are passing with high percentage. EC Council is saying there is no problem the ratio of pass to fail is the same.
Why would this get deleted? Its not like tech exams .net cares if this certification gets bashed or not.

danny069

I passed the current CEH and I felt it was much more straight-forward (I won't say easy because you have to prepare yourself and train, the only material out there are the official EC-Council Courseware) than the CASP. Taking courses at my university with Kali Linux helped me a lot, and studying the guidelines on ec-council's site, along with the threads here. Taking the Security+ and CASP were also good certs coming into the CEH as well. If you know your stuff you will pass. The questions are straight forward.

JockVSJock

IronmanX wrote: »

pfff if they where true geeks they would have passed. Even Kirk passed the kobayashi maru.

The Kobayashi Maru is/was a no-win situation test in the Star Trek Universe. The character CPT. Kirk "cheated" because he reprogrammed the computer in order to win. Any true geek knows the details behind that story, however I can separate the fantasy from reality. Not the best analogy to use, since cheating and no-win situation are being discussed in a IT professional certification forum.

IronmanX wrote: »

People are passing with high percentage. EC Council is saying there is no problem the ratio of pass to fail is the same.
Why would this get deleted? Its not like tech exams .net cares if this certification gets bashed or not.

True geeks want to gather as much information upfront before taking any professional cert. Especially if they are going to have to commit limited resources of time and money.

Right now my intuition going into this isn't good. Reading reports from this forum, there are some who thought they were going to test for v8 and got tested on v9. Contacting eCouncil asking for a study book and they recommend $800 exam material that you can only purchase thru their website? One, that is a steep price for study material. Two, there aren't other v9 exam books available to purchase at time, say via amazon, yet v9 test is available?

My CEH class kicks off the 1st part of April, however I would like the newest material to use and study off of so I can prepare to take the exam and pass the 1st time.

Yes this post runs the risks of getting deleted. There have been other posts that have disappeared from this website, where people have argued over the value of a cert Vs the profit a company makes by pushing/selling of certs. See my sig for an example.

We should and need to have that freedom to discuss things like this so others don't get duped because there are many charlatans in this career field. And the more information people have upfront, the better decisions they can make to avoid them.

IronmanX

JockVSJock wrote: »

The Kobayashi Maru is/was a no-win situation test.

Right now my intuition going into this isn't good. Reading reports from this forum, there are some who thought they were going to test for v8 and got tested on v9. Contacting eCouncil asking for a study book and they recommend $800 exam material that you can only purchase thru their website? One, that is a steep price for study material. Two, there aren't other v9 exam books available to purchase at time, say via amazon, yet v9 test is available?

My CEH class kicks off the 1st part of April, however I would like the newest material to use and study off of so I can prepare to take the exam and pass the 1st time.

Yes this post runs the risks of getting deleted. There have been other posts that have disappeared from this website, where people have argued over the value of a cert Vs the profit a company makes by pushing/selling of certs. See my sig for an example.

We should and need to have that freedom to discuss things like this so others don't get duped because there are many charlatans in this career field. And the more information people have upfront, the better decisions they can make to avoid them.

No such thing as v9 exam.
Your couse in April, which does have a version number unlike the exam should give you the latest material. Not that it's very helpful for passing the exam in my experience (CEH v8 Course).

Read what others have done who have passed. I think reading the Matt walker book, doing a lot of labing and then cover new topics is what other passing forum members are doing.

Back in October when the exam centres dropped the v8 from the exam code ppl failed and said everyone was failing and It was not possible to pass. Now ppl are taking passing it and going geez that was not that tough what's with all the complaining. At first those ppl where being accused of being EC Council employee. I think there have been enough people who have passed now that those who failed probably would have failed no matter when they did the test. The dropping of the v8 off certain testing centres test code combined with the advertising of the v9 COURSE gave those who failed someone to blame.

You are going to get questioned on material not seen anywhere in your studies. Experience and keeping up with info sec is the only way to prepare for those questions. It happened to me last March way before this v8 v9 stuff.

JockVSJock

IronmanX wrote: »

No such thing as v9 exam.

A few of my co-workers are going here in the next few days, I'll have them ask this question to the instructor.

cyberguypr

Not like it matters. EC Council has said there is no version anymore on the exam, so whatever the instructor says is pointless.

There's a number of authorized training providers still referring to the CEH exam as v9 so the message is definitely getting lost in transit.

- Secure Ninja: "This course prepares you for EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker v9 exam 312-50"
- Infosec Institute: "We make sure you are fully prepared to pass the CEH v9"
- Some training provider out of Arizona: "The difference between EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker v8 and the new Certified Ethical Hacker v9 is not the exam format, but the content itself. "

Eng.Ahmed3

TK1799_st wrote: »

In the end - ECC gave anyone who filed a complaint 1/2 off to take another exam....that's it.

Wait to take the exam - or move to another vendor like SANS or Offensive Security ---

Why risk it - why gamble -- they could push another update. On other forums people are passing v9 after watching Youtube videos or some say there isn't really any difference in the exam...who knows - don't know the background of these posters...don't know if they are trying to get people to take the exam so the failure rate keeps getting higher...I know I wasted a fair amount of funding and time...

Wish I didn't even start this adventure -- I've moved into OSCP and finding it very fulfilling - the books are straight forward - there's a ton of resources on Cybrary and fruitful labs online -- and for the most part (except the books) it's all FREE!

Best of luck for everyone involved...I'm out!

Did you retested right now or you will not retest as your choice to go to another vedors ??
please reply to me what to do , i failed with 65% on 10Feb 016 , I entered CEH v9 , not V8.

Regards.

epdavis

I retook it and passed. I was not going to, but a co-worker who is retiring gave me their voucher. I figured what the heck. No sense in wasting a voucher. Even though I have now passed, I am not happy with how all this went down. The only words of wisdom I can give for potential re-takers is don't overthink it. Its not like the CISSP. You almost have to dumb your brain down a little.

DeanYager

epdavis wrote: »

I retook it and passed. I was not going to, but a co-worker who is retiring gave me their voucher. I figured what the heck. No sense in wasting a voucher. Even though I have now passed, I am not happy with how all this went down. The only words of wisdom I can give for potential re-takers is don't overthink it. Its not like the CISSP. You almost have to dumb your brain down a little.

Were the questions basically the same as your first attempt? I know what I need to fix, but I don't have access to any training materials. Since they are not available anywhere except by EC-Council for a min of $850, I want to make sure that the test is similar to my first attempt and not once again completely different. I failed this exam this week with a 68%. I just plain studied for a different test as in the v8 material didn't prepare you for some of the topics covered, which I might add, had basically nothing to do with "ethical hacking". There isn't really any other way around it. I know what I need to work on for success, but am interested in your re-take experience.

DeanYager

cyberguypr wrote: »

Not like it matters. EC Council has said there is no version anymore on the exam, so whatever the instructor says is pointless.

There's a number of authorized training providers still referring to the CEH exam as v9 so the message is definitely getting lost in transit.

- Secure Ninja: "This course prepares you for EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker v9 exam 312-50"
- Infosec Institute: "We make sure you are fully prepared to pass the CEH v9"
- Some training provider out of Arizona: "The difference between EC-Council’s Certified Ethical Hacker v8 and the new Certified Ethical Hacker v9 is not the exam format, but the content itself. "

You are absolutely right because I had this discussion with them about this earlier this week. They don't have "version numbers" anymore. However, you go to www.eccouncil.org it has "The Launch of CEHv9" right on the home page! They have confused themselves....apparently.

IronmanX

DeanYager wrote: »

Y www.eccouncil.org it has "The Launch of CEHv9" right on the home page! They have confused themselves....apparently.

As has been said before many times that is the course not the certification.
If you follow the link:
"Certified Ethical Hacker Training Program"
"Greatly enjoy this course....."
"What is New in the CEHV9 Course"
Etc....

epdavis

I would say the questions were almost similar. Some differences

pjbracer1

Hi Guys

Might be a bit late to this party but I just took an official courser for V9 and failed the exam! I think I got a question bank from the V8 or V7 bank of questions as there was a fair bit in the exam that wasn't covered in the course, mainly the tools section, there were a lot of questions relating to tools that we did not cover in the training!


I'm not a noob to this area either but a little pissed of as I now need to take the test again at my expense!


The course is not really hands on so to speak you get to do a few labs but most is really back ground and listing the tools that you can use, but you need to go and learn how to use the tools! So anyone thinking of taking the course expecting to be able to pen test afterwards should think again.


Cheers