CEH membership renewal - Is it worth it?

Replicon · March 2017

I wanted to touch base with you guy to hear your opinion.
I have CEH v7 from 2013 still in good statinding. I received email recently that my membership fees are due, and they are 80$
I am wondering if there is any worth in paying for fees and keeping your CEHv7 updated?

Here is my situation: I don;t need CEH right away... meaning its not requirement in my current position. However I want to get into the security field in near future, not as pen tester per se but more like security analyst. I do have Sec+ and SSCP and I am not sure if keeping my CEH in active state will be of any benefit.
I guess I can still keep CEH in my resume even if I don't pay the membership fee and its inactive ?

p@r0tuXus · March 2017

I'm pretty sure it's unethical to put CEH in your resume if your certification is not in valid good standing. Considering how much the certification costs, $80 probably isn't too much, especially if you're only now getting an email after almost 4 years. I'd also say, since you want to move into Info-Sec, CEH appears to be a great resume filter that could open doors for you. You've all ready got it, why not keep it?

IronmanX · March 2017

"Suspended members will not be allowed to use the certification logos and related EC-Council membership benefits."
https://cert.eccouncil.org/ece-policy.html

So you may not be able to list it on your resume occurring to EC Council.
Also I believe potential employers would want to verify that you really do/did have it and with out being an active member they will not be able to do that. The potential employers would just have to take your word on it.

I will be in the same boat as you next year. Not really using the certification, so is it worth it to renew...
My thoughts are the cost to get it again is very high and the price keeps going up, so I probably will renew for the foreseeable future until i determine that it would not help me with my current employer or future employers.

As least they are giving you a free exam for you money:
"Any member certified or recertified January 1st 2016 onwards and continues to keep their certification active will be eligible to receive one free certification voucher upon completion of their latest ECE cycle, with values ranging from $125 to $650."

So maybe I will get more EC Council Certs because they are free to take the exam.
I'm not sure if you having more certs makes the annual fee go up or not so that is something I will have to consider.

At least

IronmanX · March 2017

p@r0tuXus wrote: »

if you're only now getting an email after almost 4 years.

The reason for the email now is that you didn't use to have to pay for annual membership.
Due to them having to do ECE to become an ANSI accredited certification they have more overhead in cost and are now charging a yearly fee.
People don't like having something for free and then having to pay for it so there is a grace period. For example I did the exam in 2015. I am certified until 2018 and then i start having to pay a yearly fee.

Pretty much every relevant cert now has a yearly fee. Although I don't like having to pay for something that was free i get it.

p@r0tuXus · March 2017

IronmanX wrote: »

The reason for the email now is that you didn't use to have to pay for annual membership.
Due to them having to do ECE to become an ANSI accredited certification they have more overhead in cost and are now charging a yearly fee.
People don't like having something for free and then having to pay for it so there is a grace period. For example I did the exam in 2015. I am certified until 2018 and then i start having to pay a yearly fee.

Pretty much every relevant cert now has a yearly fee. Although I don't like having to pay for something that was free i get it.

I know what you mean. I think continuing education is good. I think the approach to revise certs regularly is good. Charging people for a certification they all ready paid to acquire on-top of requiringe CPE's seems like robbery. You have to gain the additional training yourself AND you have to pay them for it? F- that noise.

scoobydoes · March 2017

I agree with the above posted comments. If you are in the US and applying for DOD/gov. contract positions the CEH is an HR door opener and why I am getting ready to take the exam. It is quite a bit to take for me as I am paying for it myself(considering it an investment).

$100 app fee
$650 for exam through proctoru, otherwise $700 for pearson vue
$100 for study materials
$??? for study/test taking time

So yeah, just renew it for $80 and apply to those security positions you are interested in. Hope this helps.

Replicon · March 2017

Thanks for the useful information guys.
IronmanX I was not aware that If I pay to keep it certified will get a free voucher.
I've checked on the link provided but could not find much about it.
I can google it I guess

but if anyone know more about that part please write here as it will be good reference for other too.

Yup, I will pay those 80, whatever, I didn;t knew they made it more expensive now, when I was taking it originally it was 500

gespenstern · March 2017

Renew it for sure. Especially if you do something that requires DoD 8570.

When/if you get more advanced certs from GIAC, you get CISSP and OSCP then you don't renew CEH. But until then it serves you well.

IronmanX · March 2017

p@r0tuXus wrote: »

Charging people for a certification they all ready paid to acquire on-top of requiringe CPE's seems like robbery. You have to gain the additional training yourself AND you have to pay them for it? F- that noise.

Most of the certs now require a yearly fee and I believe EC Coucil was one of the last, so I fell I can't complain.
The cost to get certified on the other hand is very high and I would think its on;ly worth it to those having it paid by someone else or someone who must meet DoD requirements as the CEH is the best bang for the buck in that case.

Sec + is $50 a year.
CISSP is $85 a year (SSCP is the same)
GIAC certifications are $399 every 4 years ($100 a year basically)
etc........

IronmanX · March 2017

Replicon wrote: »

Thanks for the useful information guys.
IronmanX I was not aware that If I pay to keep it certified will get a free voucher.
I've checked on the link provided but could not find much about it.
I can google it I guess but if anyone know more about that part please write here as it will be good reference for other too.

Yup, I will pay those 80, whatever, I didn;t knew they made it more expensive now, when I was taking it originally it was 500

Here is the announcement of the start of the yearly fee
https://www.eccouncil.org/membership-fees-2016/

"We understand that the certification maintenance fee may be burdensome to some of our members. To offset the cost of certification maintenance, we have devised a plan to provide direct value to you, our certification holder. For the year 2016, we are proud to announce that Any member certified or recertified from January 1st 2016 onwards and continues chooses to keep their certification active will be eligible to receive one free ONE FREE certification exam voucher upon completion of their latest ECE cycle, with values ranging from USD $125 to USD $650. If the member redeems this voucher, and takes the exam and pass, they will not need to worry about accumulating your required 120 CPE points for the next 3 years!
Members are also eligible to receive exclusive discounts to attend EC-Council Foundation Events such as Hacker Halted and Take Down Con as well as a discounts on additional EC-Council certification programs and material."

Dr. Fluxx · March 2017

Interesting. Maybe people arent re-certifying with the CEH. Especially if they also have to pay for the Security + maintenance fee.

Or theyre dropping DoD work all together and going for the OSCP, or CISSP.

I still cant believe the CEH is so damn expensive. Just doesnt seem worth it.

McxRisley · March 2017

I would say that if you're wanting to get into the security field then it would be wise to just pay the yearly fee. I took the CEH just so that I would meet certain DoD requirements. Another thing to point out is that even if you get the OSCP, CISSP or whatever, it is still wise to keep the CEH because some places will want you to have the CEH in addition to those certs.

IronmanX · March 2017

Dr. Fluxx wrote: »

Interesting. Maybe people arent re-certifying with the CEH. Especially if they also have to pay for the Security + maintenance fee.

No. This offer came out as soon as they introduced yearly membership fees.

If you go to the link its saying as of Jan 1st 2016 you will have to START paying a yearly fee just like all the other ANSI certs. OSCP is a great cert to have but is not ANSI certified therefore has no continuing education process and therefore has no yearly fees.

To make the going from $0 a year to $80 a year not seem so bad EC Council will throw in some "member" benefits.
I also wonder if the yearly fee applies to each cert???? I have not looked into it but in that case giving the free voucher a way for free would generate them more money with more annual member ship fees.

bigdogz · March 2017

ISACA, (ISC)2, CompTIA, and SANS are also ANSI certified. They require you to have some form of ECE's /CPE's to maintain your credentials or re certify.
I am sure you really do not want to burn the time, money, and effort for a certification you received a year earlier.
If you want to keep your CEH, pay the fees and keep track of your ECE's.

Regards

Replicon · March 2017

IronmanX wrote: »

Here is the announcement of the start of the yearly fee
https://www.eccouncil.org/membership-fees-2016/

"We understand that the certification maintenance fee may be burdensome to some of our members. To offset the cost of certification maintenance, we have devised a plan to provide direct value to you, our certification holder. For the year 2016, we are proud to announce that Any member certified or recertified from January 1st 2016 onwards and continues chooses to keep their certification active will be eligible to receive one free ONE FREE certification exam voucher upon completion of their latest ECE cycle, with values ranging from USD $125 to USD $650. If the member redeems this voucher, and takes the exam and pass, they will not need to worry about accumulating your required 120 CPE points for the next 3 years!
Members are also eligible to receive exclusive discounts to attend EC-Council Foundation Events such as Hacker Halted and Take Down Con as well as a discounts on additional EC-Council certification programs and material."

Thanks a lot

CEH membership renewal - Is it worth it?

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