Hardware & Networking

Yes, you can. Starting from the point of view, Hacking does not requires eligibility of academics. Hacking is just a skill which requires, Coding Knowledge, Network Knowledge, Server side Scripting Knowledge, Computer Hardware Knowledge and Testing Knowledge. Coming to the part, if you saw the articles, the children around 5 -11 years of age are hacking networks, finding zero day flaws in software etc. So, this shows hacking doesn't require any academic courses. Learning hacking through any certification, such as EC - Council CEH, (ISC) 2s CISSP, CISA and CISM from ISACA and OSCP from Offensive Security will improve the professional skills of hacking.

Starting from the point of view, hacking doesn't require eligibility of academics. Hacking is just a skill which requires coding knowledge, network knowledge, server-side scripting knowledge, computer hardware knowledge and testing knowledge. Coming to the part, if you saw the articles, the children are around 5 - 11 years of age are hacking networks, finding zero-day flaws in software, etc. So, this shows hacking does not require any academic courses. Learning to hack through any certification such as EC - Council CEH, (ISC)2s CISSP, CISA and CISM from ISACA and OSCP from Offensive Security will improve the professional skills of hacking.
For details, check out the link below:
http://www.gangte.net/2014/03/how-to-become-a-hacker.html

The ever growing technology is introducing a lot of scope in the sector of hardware and networking. The growth prospects are tremendous as the technology filed will always require support for hardware and networking.
There are various courses that can be pursued in the field ranging from certificates, diplomas and degree. There is no particular eligibility for the certificate and diploma courses however in case of degree courses one would need to be 12th pass with minimum 45% pass marks.
The short term courses ranging between 1-2 years of duration. Diploma courses in this sector allow one to start a career in the field and gain experience.
Some of the popular diploma courses are:
Diploma in basic computer and networking
Diploma in computer hardware, networking and security
Diploma in Computer Hardware and Advanced Network Engineering
Some popular institutes that offer these courses are:
Jetking
Aptech Systems
Accel Academy
Mastermind Technologies

1. Metasploit - A free tool, one of the most popular cybersecurity tool around that allows you to locate vulnerabilities at different platforms. As a penetration tester, it pinpoints the vulnerabilities with Nexpose closed-loop integration using Top Remediation reports.
2. Acunetix WVS - It scans and finds out the flaws in a website that could prove fatal. This tool crawls a website and finds out malicious Cross-site Scripting, SQL injection, and other vulnerabilities.
3. Nmap - It's a free and open source hacking tool is the most popular port scanning tool around that allows efficient network discovery and security auditing. Used for a wide range of services, Nmap uses raw IP packets to determine the hosts available on a network, their services along with details, operating systems used by hosts, the type of firewall used, and other information.
4. Wireshark - It discovers vulnerability within a network and probes firewall rule-sets. Wireshark helps you to read live data from Ethernet, IEEE 802.11, PPP/HDLC, ATM, Bluetooth, USB, Token Ring, Frame Relay, FDDI, and others.
5. oclHashcat - Generally used for the password cracking. Hashcat is a CPU-based password cracking tool, oclHashcat is its advanced version that uses the power of your GPU.
6. Nessus Vulnerability Scanner - Using Nessus, one can scan multiple types of vulnerabilities that include remote access flaw detection, misconfiguration alert, denial of services against TCP/IP stack, preparation of PCI DSS audits, malware detection, sensitive data searches, etc.