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

CEHv8 FAILED EXAM - Was version 9 - How to Resolve

Write an email to EC Councils - Certification Director

certdirector@eccouncil.org

I was instructed to contact you immediately in reference to the CEHv8 Exam I took on XX OCT 2015 at (TESTING LOCATION)

Upon opening the exam, I realized that the material I studied from the Official ECC CEH v8 course-ware, the (?) Book for CEHv8, (?) Videos for CEHv8, and the tools provided to practiced with were not the same and I did not pass.

I believe at this point, Pearson Vue and EC Council owe me a new voucher to re-take the CEHv8 Exam. I also do not believe the CEH v9 Exam should not be released in the wild as of yet since there is no current study material available that I could find.

Please get back to me with an answer. I took FRI off from work and now have to take another day off to make this exam happen.

Just to confirm, I signed up and paid for the CEH v8 exam.

(NAME)
__________________________

Can the Admin pin this so that others can see it at the top - I will post updates once I hear back from ECC - I was told from another rep at ECC that they know of the issue and need people to contact them so they can resolve it and get testers the correct v8 Exam.

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Comments

TK1799_st

To compare the 2 versions of the exam to find the differences - here they are for those of you who are asking and not wanting to investigate it your self. - because I know the difference - I studied v8 and was given v9. Enjoy!

CEH v8 Objective off of the EC Council Website (19 Modules)
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) Training Online - EC-CouncilEC Council iClass

CEH v9 Objective List (18 Modules)
https://www.eccouncil.org/Certification/certified-ethical-hacker/CEH-What-You-Will-Learn

The links provided above are for the Objectives that define what content will be on the exam.

BillV_

TK1799_st wrote: »

To compare the 2 versions of the excam to find the differences - here they are for those of you who are asking and not wanting to investigate it your self.

No. Those are links to the courses. If you want to compare the exam, the links are here:

https://cert.eccouncil.org/images/doc/CEHv8-Exam-Blueprint-v1.1-17012012.pdf
(the one you're claiming is the "v8" test)

http://www.eccouncil.org/Certification/exam-information/ceh-exam-312-50
(and the current "v9" .. which looks identical)

Let's look at the topics from one course to the other anyway...

1 Intro
2 Footprinting
3 Scanning
4 Enumeration
5 System Hacking
6 Trojans/Backdoors => Malware Threats
7 Viruses/Worms => Malware Threats
8 Sniffers
9 Social Engineering
10 Denial of Service
11 Session Hijacking
12 Hijacking Web Servers
13 Hijacking Web Applications
14 SQL Injections
15 Hacking Wireless Networks
16 Evasion
17 Buffer Overflow => Removed
18 Cryptography
19 Penetration Testing => Removed

Added: Hacking Mobile Platforms
Added: Cloud Computing

... So, in reality, for the course, two modules were combined into one (which makes sense). Two were removed, and two new were added.

Ridiculous1022

Hey guys, new to the forum so, hello

. I actually took the test on 20th of Oct and failed with a 65%. Like everyone else, when I saw the questions it definitely was not the type of questions I was expecting after studying the all in one book, secure ninja, study guides, etc. I actually kept looking at the title to make sure I was taking the CEH and not some other exam. And before anyone asks, I actually work in the field as a Cyber Security Incident Responder so I will say that helped me understand the questions I saw but could only narrow the answer down to 2 as I never studied the material the questions were asking. After the exam, I just had a feeling that something wasn't right and started searching for information on covered objectives of the CEH and found this forum.

Anyways, I followed TK1799_st (thanks for the information) and emailed EC Council about the exam, and they replied with the generic "there is no version numbers, blah blah blah" and also another email stating that they would discount my re-take by 150. My question is, how many of us that failed are taking that discount voucher? In a way I feel like that's their way of "Shutting us up" but on the other hand, what other choice do we have? I also saw that the discount voucher had a expiration date of 5 days so I wanted to see what others were planning to do. Still think EC Council needs to give us a FREE retake but that's my opinion. Anyways, thanks in advance!!

Sch1sm

It's interesting that the VP seems to have handed off dealing with this to the woman in Malaysia.

TK1799_st

Ridiculous1022 wrote: »

Hey guys, new to the forum so, hello . I actually took the test on 20th of Oct and failed with a 65%. Like everyone else, when I saw the questions it definitely was not the type of questions I was expecting after studying the all in one book, secure ninja, study guides, etc. I actually kept looking at the title to make sure I was taking the CEH and not some other exam. And before anyone asks, I actually work in the field as a Cyber Security Incident Responder so I will say that helped me understand the questions I saw but could only narrow the answer down to 2 as I never studied the material the questions were asking. After the exam, I just had a feeling that something wasn't right and started searching for information on covered objectives of the CEH and found this forum.

Anyways, I followed TK1799_st (thanks for the information) and emailed EC Council about the exam, and they replied with the generic "there is no version numbers, blah blah blah" and also another email stating that they would discount my re-take by 150. My question is, how many of us that failed are taking that discount voucher? In a way I feel like that's their way of "Shutting us up" but on the other hand, what other choice do we have? I also saw that the discount voucher had a expiration date of 5 days so I wanted to see what others were planning to do. Still think EC Council needs to give us a FREE retake but that's my opinion. Anyways, thanks in advance!!

Sorry brother you had to go through the same thing...

OctalDump

So, I just realised that the transcript for my CEH exam (early October) clearly says:

Certified Ethical Hacker v8 Exam (CEH v8 )

Sooooo.... what does it say on the transcripts for people passing under the "v9" exam? Is it just CEH or is it specifically CEH v9?

Part of the argument from CEH has been that the exam is now not versioned. But it could be that it was versioned until "v9" (crazy, yeah?) or shortly before v9 (still crazy).

I think maybe the transition has been borked by ECC, and at the least should be giving free resits to the people affected.

Sch1sm

Yeah, everyone sat what should've been version 8 but ended up sitting version 9. The ECC is telling us to go **** ourselves and give them more money to resit the exam, it's pretty great.

TK1799_st

UPDATE -- 24 OCT 2015 -- More Forms to Fill Out

Thank you once again for ensuring you explain your thoughts to us.

Unfortunately we can not accept your request as we we have we only have one current CEH exam for all those who wish to earn the CEH title at this point of time.

To summarize our discussion over the past few days, we conclude that you do not agree with your score or our exam format. Since you are not satisfied with EC-Council's decision the next step would be for you you to send us a formal appeal so we can have the CEH Scheme committee review and make their decision on this specific case.

For your information the Scheme Committee is an independent body who guides and governs EC-Council certification policies and processes.

The appeal process is listed at:
https://cert.eccouncil.org/appeal-procedure.html

You can find the appeal form at:
https://cert.eccouncil.org/images/doc/Appeal-Form-v2.pdf

and the exam feedback form at:
https://cert.eccouncil.org/images/doc/Exam-Feedback-Form-v1.1-19012012.pdf

We will need you to send the above 2 forms to us with any supporting documents/ proofs that you can attach that you believe supports your claims and case.

We hope to have the committee review your case at the earliest and give you their final decision. I wil confirm the date we can get back on only once i have send your case across to the committee.

Thank you

Cherylann Vanderhide

______________________________________

SecConsultant

Hi all,

So same situation with the CEH exam. I am pissed too obv. I am taking it on Monday and will post how it went etc.

A question to those who have taken the new version. How hard was it in terms of being able to do intellectual guessing? Before studying for the v8 I took some **** and could do ~70% without prior preparation. I have about 3 years pentest, sec conult exp. Has this new version become harder?

Thanks!

BillV_

SecConsultant wrote: »

Hi all,

So same situation with the CEH exam. I am pissed too obv. I am taking it on Monday and will post how it went etc.

A question to those who have taken the new version. How hard was it in terms of being able to do intellectual guessing? Before studying for the v8 I took some **** and could do ~70% without prior preparation. I have about 3 years pentest, sec conult exp. Has this new version become harder?

Thanks!

Maybe you shouldn't be using **** to prepare and that's the problem? No, the test is not difficult for someone with experience.

SecConsultant

Thanks for your reply. Good to hear that. How did you do? Whats your exp?

supasecuritybro

Yeah unless you sat through after the version drop on October 15th after studying without notice of any new material, you wouldn't understand. I work doing a lot of this work already for the last year. It's not new to me to do any of these tasks.

I have my sheet that says I sat for the CEHv8 test on Monday 19Oct when Pearson Vue confirmed they got a request from ECC to update on the 15th. I have a problem with that. I am willing to appeal but from how ECC has treated everyone so far it's a dead end. Not sure if I will get any of their certs from my experience. If they would have been willing to look into it instead of me having to prove to them I was right and after that told me they can only give a discount, I would have been ok with it. Being dismiss by an organization you have to pay to be a part of is not good business for me and not worth my time. I had other expectations going into this but if rather not be treated like a nuisance.

BillV_

SecConsultant wrote: »

Thanks for your reply. Good to hear that. How did you do? Whats your exp?

Sure thing. It's no shock to anyone that there are leaked training videos/study guides/instructor guides/questions out on the Internet. This exam has had a very large question pool so using **** has always been a gamble. In most cases, you need the hands-on time using the tools. If that's the type of **** you've used, I'd recommend you reconsider and just study. But, it's certainly up to you.

The unfortunate part is that when someone uses a ****, and then manages to get a job, it doesn't take too long to realize that person really doesn't know what they're doing. And this has been an issue because it reflects poorly for the people that actually went about it the right way.

I didn't do. I am prohibited from taking the exam. However, for this current one everyone is complaining about, I did recommend that the minimum passing score be raised to 80%. Unfortunately, ANSI wouldn't allow it.

wayne_wonder

Doesn't mater if they raise it to 80% the cert is fast becoming a joke plus the fact it's just theory based isn't learning you much.

They need a total revamp of the exam surely you can go back and relay that information

BillV_

TK:

Your comments here in the forum (while I understand may be inaccurate due to lack of knowledge of the process) have been highly unprofessional. You have made your complaints, you have asked questions, and you have been given answers. Yet you continue to try to push the issue for your own agenda, on this site and others. Unfortunately, this is not the best way to go about things. Your rude comments towards other members, personal attacks, doxxing (sort of), and generally bad attitude do nothing to help support your case. This seems to go against the Code of Ethics that you agreed to adhere to when you earned your CHFI certification. Yet, you then decide to turn around and threaten/attack/talk about about the organization that has provided you that credential.

Yes, you made your complaint known. And yes, despite what you may think, EC-Council takes such things seriously, and does do a thorough investigation into the claims. While you, or others, may not have been receiving constant updates on the matter, there was definitely work being done in the background.

I have made multiple attempts at explaining the certification exam development process to you, along with the differences between the exam itself and the course content. This is all aligned to what ANSI has set out as requirements per standard 17024 (Accreditation Program for Personnel Certification Bodies). I personally find it difficult for someone that is highly experienced to use such an in-depth self-study option and still not pass, but I have no way to validate the study process. The exam does not contain any questions that are so groundbreaking that someone using even v5 courseware would not be able to pass. The underlying ethical hacking principles and techniques have not changed. Yes, you are require to have had hands-on time with the tools. If you haven't, those questions will likely prove difficult.

Your conduct here and in your emails to EC-Council, and your threats to go along with them, is unacceptable. Your complaint has been filed and you have now received your response. Following the appeals process, your complaint will be escalated up to the Scheme Committee for further review and you will receive a final decision on your appeal.

Best Regards,
Bill V.
Chair, EC-Council Scheme Committee

BillV_

wayne_wonder wrote: »

Doesn't mater if they raise it to 80% the cert is fast becoming a joke plus the fact it's just theory based isn't learning you much.

They need a total revamp of the exam surely you can go back and relay that information

It has been partially plagued from the beginning due to the marketing that went into it, the way it was accepted by the community, and what it has always been meant to be - an introductory course to ethical hacking. At that, it does just fine. But with the way it's always been interpreted, the industry has always expected more from it. They are working to address this.

wayne_wonder

They definitely need to do something especially for the price is basically become a HR filter certification and I'm seeing the Cissp go that way

BillV_

wayne_wonder wrote: »

They definitely need to do something especially for the price is basically become a HR filter certification and I'm seeing the Cissp go that way

I don't disagree. If I'm looking to hire someone for an ethical hacking position, I certainly can't gauge skill level based on them having a CEH credential alone. I have to talk to them to find out.

On the flip side, when someone presents an OSCP, I know exactly what they have been through and what sort of skill level they have.

Not that any certification really shows anything beyond a baseline of knowledge but the practical helps add a bit more to it.

IronmanX

Ridiculous1022 wrote: »

Hey guys, new to the forum so, hello . I actually took the test on 20th of Oct and failed with a 65%. Like everyone else, when I saw the questions it definitely was not the type of questions I was expecting after studying the all in one book, secure ninja, study guides, etc. I actually kept looking at the title to make sure I was taking the CEH and not some other exam.

This was how I felt in March and quite common if you look around.

No one has said what type of questions they got that they thought they should not have gotten. ARe there really that many cloud computing questions or something?
"
03-23-2015 02:02 PM

CEH Passed. My Thought and Where do I go from here

I took the test a little while ago.
This is definitely not a Entry level/Beginner certification. Without experience I don't know how anyone could pass this test.

During the exam I thought i was going to fail. I ended up with 84%, but thought i was in deep trouble for most of the 2 1/2ish hours I was in the exam. It just was not what I expected it would be like from the material and practice tests I took. Most of the questions I was like Wow where was this in the material I covered. At one point i was so sure i was going to fail I was planning on how I could study the material I was being asked about for the next exam even though i had seen no mention of it in the CEH material I covered.
"

"
07-27-2015 06:09 PM

CEH - Passed!

Hey guys and gals! After 2.5 months of studying, I passed the CEH with an 88% in just under two hours. There were roughly 6 or 7 sections, split into groups of 30, 40, 5, 15, etc. Very odd if you ask me - I'm guessing this is so you can't find the answer to a question from another question. Anyway, here are some take-aways from my exam without breaking NDA.

1. Some questions are not covered in any of the material I used for study (Walker AIO with Practice Exams, BOSON, CBTNuggets) Some stuff carried over from the SSCP so I am lucky to have that knowledge still floating around in my brain.
2. Some questions didn't have a correct answer to choose from. I'm serious. I'd love to share but I can't for obvious reasons.
3. Some questions are so darn obvious it makes you wonder if you are missing something.
4. Know the main NMAP switches really well and know what responses you get on open/closed ports.
5. One or two questions were almost identical to some of the AIO practice questions in Total Tester/AIO. How'd that happen?
6. Know your subnetting (How to identify a subnet/broadcast)

Honestly, the majority of the stuff I spent so much time memorizing wasn't even on the exam. Bitter sweet I guess you can say, but now I understand everyone's gripe with EC Council and this certification. I learned a ton from studying, but achieving a "Certified" status should be a lot more difficult.

Again, the materials I used were Matt Walker's AIO 2nd Edition with practice questions, BOSON, CBTNuggets, playing with the majority of the tools (nmap, hping, Cain, Metasploit, etc) . These resources should be plenty for a seasoned IT guy/gal to pass this exam. But beware, there are topics that are so far off and no way to prep for before hand. They assume that you just know this stuff already.

Good luck to any one else prepping for this exam.
"

Other people seem to think its too easy and score in the 90s. I've noticed the really high scores seem to happen close together. There is probably a little bit of luck on what questions you get asked.

BillV_

IronmanX wrote: »

This was how I felt in March and quite common if you look around.

No one has said what type of questions they got that they thought they should not have gotten. ARe there really that many cloud computing questions or something?

Other people seem to think its too easy and score in the 90s. I've noticed the really high scores seem to happen close together. There is probably a little bit of luck on what questions you get asked.

The best advice I can provide is that if you feel you have a legitimate complaint about the exam, you file a complaint ticket as per the appeals process. As suggested above, you will need to provide detailed specifics about what it is you have a disagreement with (e.g., as suggested above, if it's a "cloud computing" question that you remember that didn't fit in, you need to include the details, as best you can remember). If your complaint is generalized - "I had a lot of questions on subjects I didn't study" - it's not likely going to go well.

[Deleted User]

I would like to share some of my knowledge of my testing experience. My exam did map to the objectives of the CEH blueprint. Some questions I found were similar to the questions that were just odd from your description. I want to say I had around 5 questions where I was thinking to myself "WTF this wasn't in my materials" If you look at my post, I shared what I used to study including the official course ware that I bought on Ebay. But to summarize, here is what I used:

Matt Walker All in one guide and his practice exam book
Boson practice exams
LearnSmart video course on Udemy very useful
CBT Nuggets CEH course
Michael Gregg Pearson CEH book
Materials I forgot to mention:
New Horizons bootcamp (OMG New horizons so overated) yeah yeah but it really helped a lot as I asked my instructor about the changes and here is what I was told.

Most of those questions that are odd may be beta test questions that will not affect your score at all But you don't know which ones are beta or not. CompTIA does the same thing between transition periods as I have experienced it first hand.

Did you check EC-Council terms before you took the test? Most people don't but they probably have something in there like how they may throw beta questions in there but they won't be graded. You don't know the questions you got right or wrong on any cert just a breakdown on what to look at more for next time or in EC-Council's case just your score and pass or fail. They also want you to use deductive reasoning with their tests. Remember their moto "to defeat a hacker you need to think like one." May be cheesy but when I had some one off questions, it seemed to help me.

Also think about Cisco, they make silent updates to their exams as well without people being notified. Those that **** will be a chump as those new questions will determine if you are a true CCNA or a "paper CCNA" All part of the terms. Remember south park and the itunes episode Funny but true. Why do you think EC-Council has their legal team to CYA.

BillV_

Thanks for the feedback and comments. As far as I know, there is a screen prior to starting the exam that explains how the test will go and includes a statement about beta questions being included (that are not scored). This is not just during a transition period, but is always the case. The questions must go through beta testing before they can be included into the actual exam pool of questions.

Sounds like you used a lot of the same materials that have been used by others here. When did you take your exam?

[Deleted User]

I took it in September this year. Then those questions that looked odd, you can then probably conclude that they may have been betas. As stated earlier you won't know for fact if it is a beta question or not you would have needed to study the material to know if it was a beta or not if that makes sense. I had something similar to a Cisco test where Cisco graded the wrong exam upon my appeal to them and I called them out on it and they provided me a free voucher to sit the exam again. They graded my 200-120 not my 100-101. I would say that since you have your CHFI with them and after reading the email that was sent about violating the ethics agreement with them, you may just want to bite the bullet and take the discounted voucher as they could technically revoke your CHFI if you violated a term about the ethics policy. They are in it for the money they could care less about giving you a free exam attempt. If you are really wanting a free attempt, my only suggestion would be to really look over everything and look for loopholes in what they are saying vs their terms. It's like getting a parking ticket. If the ticket is documented wrong or contains incorrect information, you can use that to your advantage and get out of the ticket. That is the only thing I can suggest at this point. Hope things work out well. kMastaflash is out of here!

binarysoul

BillV_ wrote: »

The best advice I can provide is that if you feel you have a legitimate complaint about the exam, you file a complaint ticket as per the appeals process. As suggested above, you will need to provide detailed specifics about what it is you have a disagreement with (e.g., as suggested above, if it's a "cloud computing" question that you remember that didn't fit in, you need to include the details, as best you can remember). If your complaint is generalized - "I had a lot of questions on subjects I didn't study" - it's not likely going to go well.

My friend, appeal process is for individual cases. The issue appears to be with exam, not with candidates. These people complaining can't be all wrong.

P.S. I've been on this form almost 10 years. Most folks here are hard-working, smart and clever people. They don't just make up excuses when they fail an exam. ECC should fix the exam.

TK1799_st

Those of us that failed - YOU HAVE 7 DAYS to fill a TICKET - the first link in the last e-mail I posted from Cherlyann....a technically I'm sure they will use to dismiss us all on....

I have filed my formal complaint an e-mailed it in.

BillV_

binarysoul wrote: »

My friend, appeal process is for individual cases. The issue appears to be with exam, not with candidates. These people complaining can't be all wrong.

P.S. I've been on this form almost 10 years. Most folks here are hard-working, smart and clever people. They don't just make up excuses when they fail an exam. ECC should fix the exam.

Correct. And each individual with a complaint should file their complaint.

The exam does not appear to be the problem. There are still more people passing than failing. I really don't know what else to tell you.

edit: That said... perhaps the "difficulty" of the questions increased but I assure you there was no mass change of topics. The exam still adheres to the blueprint provided.

TK1799_st

"Your conduct here and in your emails to EC-Council, and your threats to go along with them, is unacceptable. Your complaint has been filed and you have now received your response. Following the appeals process, your complaint will be escalated up to the Scheme Committee for further review and you will receive a final decision on your appeal."

Best Regards,
Bill V.
Chair, EC-Council Scheme Committee"

You shouldn't be sitting on any council then -- your bias obviously....nice how you gathered everything up - targeted me - the one providing links and contacts -- and then "bam!" I'm sure that makes you feel good.

Well there you have it folks -- -I just lost because someone going to use information that I provided to others to halt taking the exam until things can be figured out -- is going to vote against me! That's just great -- another ambush from ECC....excellent.

Best to you all...I'm moving on....

BillV_

TK1799_st wrote: »

You shouldn't be sitting on any council then -- your bias obviously....nice how you gathered everything up - targeted me - the one providing links and contacts -- and then "bam!" I'm sure that makes you feel good.

Well there you have it folks -- -I just lost because someone going to use information that I provided to others to halt taking the exam until things can be figured out -- is going to vote against me! That's just great -- another ambush from ECC....excellent.

Best to you all...I'm moving on....

Thanks for the feedback. You weren't targeted. I replied to a post and you came back with insults and personal attacks, towards myself and EC-Council employees, here and separately within your emails (not to mention the vote on my "reputation" here with profanity you were so kind to share).

I seem to have maintained discussions with other members here, via the posts and private messages, without issue. I've provided suggestions to others that will also be filing complaints regarding their experiences.

The difference is in the manner in which you decided to go about your complaints.

Sorry to hear. Good luck in your future endeavors.

TK1799_st

BillV_ wrote: »

Thanks for the feedback. You weren't targeted. I replied to a post and you came back with insults and personal attacks, towards myself and EC-Council employees, here and separately within your emails (not to mention the vote on my "reputation" here with profanity you were so kind to share).

I seem to have maintained discussions with other members here, via the posts and private messages, without issue. I've provided suggestions to others that will also be filing complaints regarding their experiences.

The difference is in the manner in which you decided to go about your complaints.

Sorry to hear. Good luck in your future endeavors.

Why didn't you state you were a Chair - with EEC - on the committee and share the link with the appeals process? I attempted to be nice - and you basically referred to me as a cheater. You were condescending in manner. Why hide all this time - why not message me from the beginning? oh well...

wayne_wonder

Seriously how did you not know he worked for them? It was so obvious