As a red team operator, I decided to take the eLearnSecurity Junior Penetration Tester (eJPT) exam to see how it holds up in today’s cybersecurity landscape. I began the exam around 1 PM and finished by 6 PM, taking roughly five hours from start to finish. I had already completed the eJPT course beforehand, so most of the exam felt familiar maybe too familiar.

Exam Structure

The eJPT exam is built around 35 multiple-choice questions. There’s no report writing, which makes it feel less like a real engagement and more like a structured lab test.

You’re given access to four target systems inside an internal network:

• One WordPress site
• One Drupal site
• One Windows machine
• One Linux machine

Your job is to enumerate, exploit, and pivot across them to answer the exam questions.

My Experience

The exam environment was stable and well-organized. I didn’t face any connectivity issues, and the web interface for answering questions was straightforward. Overall, the exam experience was good, and I appreciated how clearly everything was laid out.

However, I quickly realized that the content was extremely basic for anyone with hands-on experience. The exam and even more so, the course leans heavily on Nmap and Metasploit. Almost every step involves running a scan, spotting a service, and then firing up Metasploit to exploit it. While these tools are foundational, relying on them so much makes the entire process feel repetitive and a bit boring, especially if you’re used to performing real red team operations.

That said, the instructor is great clear explanations, structured delivery, and good pacing. The teaching quality is solid; the issue is simply that the material itself is outdated.

Where It Falls Short in 2025

While the eJPT still serves as a great entry-level certification, it’s badly in need of modernization. Here’s what stood out to me:

• Heavily tool-dependent. The course and exam center too much around Nmap and Metasploit, without encouraging manual exploitation, scripting, or tool diversity.
• Outdated targets and attack paths. The focus on WordPress, Drupal, and older OS builds doesn’t reflect what real networks look like in 2025. There’s no cloud, no modern web frameworks, and no identity or API-based challenges.
• No modern defense simulation. In reality, almost every enterprise system today is protected by EDR or at least antivirus (AV). The eJPT labs don’t simulate these defenses, so there’s no exposure to evasion, detection, or stealth techniques all crucial in today’s red team operations.
• No report writing. Without a reporting component, candidates miss the chance to practice one of the most essential professional skills: documenting findings clearly and providing remediation guidance.
• Tools and labs need a total overhaul. The current environment is functional but outdated. A complete refresh would make the course far more relevant and engaging.

My Verdict

If you’re new to ethical hacking or penetration testing, the eJPT remains one of the most beginner-friendly and accessible certifications out there. It gives you practical experience in scanning, enumeration, and exploitation within a safe environment.

But for anyone with professional experience especially those in red teaming, offensive security, or advanced pentesting it’s too simple and predictable. The heavy dependence on old tools, lack of modern environments, and absence of EDR/AV simulation make it feel like something from another era.

In short:
Great for beginners. Outdated for professionals. Still a good experience overall, but long overdue for a modern refresh.

About the Author

I’m a red team operator specializing in adversary simulation and offensive security assessments across enterprise and cloud environments. I took the eJPT to evaluate its relevance in 2025 and while the structure and teaching are solid, it’s time for an update that reflects how real-world systems are actually defended today.