SecProve
ProfessionalVendor-neutralEC-Council· issued from US

LPT

EC Council Licensed Penetration Tester

EC Council Licensed Penetration Tester

Official page at EC-Council↔ Compare with another cert
Exam fee
$899
Ongoing
$80/yr AMF · 40 CPE/yr
Study time
300–500 hrs
Delivery
Hybrid
Validity
3 yrs (renewal cycle)

› Quality score

25.5 / 40

Four-axis SecProve rubric, each 0–10. SecProve editorial assessment — each axis carries a written justification so you can push back on any single call without dismissing the whole score.

Blueprint rigor
How well-defined and rigorous the exam blueprint is.
Licensed Penetration Tester (Master) ECO extends CPENT with senior-tier expectations.
6.5/10
Practical evidence
Hands-on labs / written reports vs pure MCQ.
Multi-day hands-on engagement in EC-Council's lab.
7.5/10
Currency & upkeep
How aggressively content is kept current with the field.
Updates trail CPENT cadence; cloud-pentest content added.
6.0/10
Market recognition
How often this signal actually moves a hiring decision.
Recognised in EC-Council ecosystem; smaller absolute market than CPENT.
5.5/10

› Exam format

Practical-based: Identical to CPENT, but passing score 90% instead of 70%. No separate exam.

Retake policy
Fee: $499 per attempt
Wait: 0d between attempts

First retake immediate; 14 days between attempts 2-3, 1 month between 3-4, 3 months between 4-5. Max 5 attempts/year.

› Recertification

Valid for 3 years. 120 ECE credits over 3 years + annual AMF (80 USD).

› 3-year cost of ownership

Exam (1×)
$899
AMF (3×)
$240@$80/yr
Total
$1139

Excludes study materials, training, retake risk, and lost-wage opportunity. Use as a floor estimate.

› NICE Framework work roles

The NIST NICE work-role IDs this cert maps to. NICCS lookup.

PD-WRL-007
Recognition
Global
Exam languages
en

› Core domains covered

The 1 domain this cert is centrally about. Passing the exam demonstrates working knowledge of each.

A9Penetration Testing & Red Teaming

Methodology (OSSTMM, PTES), web/network/mobile pentesting, social engineering, purple teaming.

› Prerequisites

Experience

CPENT exam passed with at least 90%.

› Progression

requiredrecommended

Where this cert fits in the typical learning path. Required edges are vendor-gated; recommended edges reflect de facto industry progression.

Required prereqs (2)
CEHEC-CouncilCPENTEC-Council
Recommended priors (0)

No de facto priors typically expected.

LPT
EC-Council
Required by (0)

No certs require this one.

Recommended next (0)

No follow-on certs reference this one yet.

› Common exam traps to study

Cybersecurity cert exams reuse the same 25 distractor patterns over and over — category confusion, RTO vs RPO, IDS vs IPS, MD5 vs SHA-256, and more. Once you can name the trap, you stop falling for it. Each archetype page covers what it is, the specific pairs candidates confuse, and how to avoid it.

Browse all 25 cert-exam trapsStart with: BEST vs correct

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