There are more cyber security institutes in Kochi than ever, and most of them sound the same on the phone. Students come to us every month after paying somewhere else for promises that never happened. Here's what we tell them to watch for, from more than seven years of training students in Kerala.
6 red flags
- Aggressive telecallers who promise everything "Everything is included, placement support, everything." Calling is often outsourced to external agencies who have never met the technical or training team. They promise anything to close the sale.
- No real accreditation Many training centres have no accreditation at all, or claim to be "authorised" without proof.
- Trainers who are students themselves If the person teaching you finished the same course last year, they can't teach you what the job is really like.
- Their own certificate, dressed up Some leave out the real exam voucher and give you their own certificate, with a name tweaked to sound like a famous one such as OSCP. It looks impressive and has no value to employers.
- "100% placement" Placement assistance (resume building, how to apply, mock interviews) is real. A guaranteed job is impossible without knowing your profile. A 100% promise usually means a job unrelated to what you studied. Treat it as a scam.
- Boasted success stories One or two people out of a thousand got a job without a degree, and suddenly "you don't need a degree". Ask how many, out of how many.
Placement assurance
- "We guarantee you a job"
- Made without knowing your profile
- Often an unrelated job, if any
- Practically impossible to honour
Placement assistance
- Resume review and set-up
- How and where to apply
- Mock interviews
- Honest advice based on your profile
5 questions to ask before you pay
Check these before you sign up
- Track recordStudents trained, and what changed for them
- AccreditationReal, with a certificate number
- InstructorsYears of experience and real projects
- How establishedYears running, organisations trained
- What's includedVoucher, GST, labs and exact promises
- What's your track record? How long have you been training, how many students have you trained, and what changed in their lives afterwards? Ask to hear real student stories.
- Are you really accredited? Ask to see the accreditation certificate, not a logo on a brochure.
- Who will teach me? How many years of real experience do the instructors have, and what projects have they worked on?
- How established are you? Did you start last month, or have you trained organisations before? Which ones, and at what level?
- What exactly does the fee include? Is the exam voucher included? GST? Labs? What exactly are you promising me, in writing?
How to check EC-Council accreditation
Ask the institute for its EC-Council Accredited Training Centre (ATC) certificate number. A real ATC can give it to you straight away. If they can't, or change the subject, they aren't accredited.
Edwhere Learning is an EC-Council Accredited Training Centre. Our ATC certification number is EATC86135.
What a good lab setup looks like
Cybersecurity is learned by doing, so the lab matters as much as the lectures. Whether you use the institute's machines or your own laptop, make sure you have at least:
- 8 GBRAM, minimum
- 512 GBSSD storage
- i5+Intel i5 or better
- AccessWhen you need it
Being able to reach the lab whenever you want to practise matters as much as the specifications. At an EC-Council Accredited Training Centre you can also get EC-Council's official labs online, so you can do every lab properly even if your own computer falls short.
How Edwhere measures up
We'd rather you checked us against the same list:
- Track record: more than 40,000 students trained since 2019, with over 5,000 active learners on our platform. Recent students include Helen, placed at Tech Mahindra halfway through the CEH batch, and George, who was promoted at his company in Kuwait after training with us.
- Accreditation: EC-Council Accredited Training Centre (EATC86135) and ISO 9001:2015 certified.
- Instructors: our cybersecurity instructors have more than 10 years of experience implementing security for companies. Our sister consulting company, Halosec Cyber Defense, keeps us working on real security projects.
- Organisations trained: we've worked with Kerala Police Cyberdome and LabourIndia, and run workshops and faculty programs at colleges across Kerala.
- What's included: our CEH training includes the official exam voucher. We tell you the exact fee and what it includes before you pay. We offer placement assistance, never a placement guarantee.
Visit us in Aluva, Kochi
Ask us these five questions
Come and see the centre, meet the instructors and ask us anything on this list. Or call or WhatsApp +91 81380 41614.
Keep reading
Frequently asked questions
How do I know if a cyber security institute in Kochi is genuine?
Ask for proof rather than promises: the accreditation certificate and number, the instructors' experience, how many students they've trained and what happened to them, and a written list of what the fee includes.
Is 100% placement guarantee real?
No. No one can guarantee you a job without knowing your profile and the market. Genuine institutes offer placement assistance: resume help, how to apply and mock interviews.
How can I check if an institute is EC-Council accredited?
Ask for its EC-Council Accredited Training Centre certificate number. A real ATC can give it immediately. Edwhere's is EATC86135.
What laptop do I need for a cyber security course?
At least 8 GB RAM, a 512 GB SSD and an Intel i5 or better. At an EC-Council accredited centre you can also use EC-Council's official online labs.
Are institute certificates worth it?
An institute's own certificate has little value to employers. Make sure the course leads to a recognised industry certification such as EC-Council CEH, with the official exam voucher.