DEC 2025

HTB Certifications Mapped To ECSF

ECSF By ENISA

The European Cybersecurity Skills Framework (ECSF), developed by ENISA, is the reference framework for defining cybersecurity professional roles across Europe. It consolidates 12 typical cybersecurity role profiles and articulates the associated tasks, competences, skills, and knowledge required for each, providing a shared language between employers, policymakers, and training providers.

What is the European Cybersecurity Skills Framework (ECSF)?

ECSF’s Value Proposition

Universal Taxonomy for Capability Alignment: The ECSF provides a standardized, role-agnostic vocabulary for cybersecurity skills in the European context, enabling:
- Precise diagnosis of capability gaps against a robust, externally validated benchmark.
- Alignment of internal roles, job descriptions, and career paths with a pan-European standard, reducing hiring friction and misalignment.
- Clear communication of cybersecurity resourcing needs to Boards and non-technical units using a shared, competency-based language.
Certification and Training Portfolio Rationalization: Mapping certifications to ECSF roles and competencies delivers immediate financial and operational efficiencies by:
- Directing training investment to certifications that validate the exact competencies required for ECSF-defined roles, optimizing training budgets.
- Supporting more objective hiring decisions by assessing how closely a candidate’s certifications match the role to be filled.
- Using the ECSF as a blueprint for internal training pathways, ensuring curricula target the precise proficiency levels required.
Foundational Architecture for Workforce Development: The ECSF functions as a dynamic architecture for managing the full talent lifecycle, enabling:
- Career pathway engineering through transparent, attainable progression routes with clearly defined competency milestones, strengthening retention and engagement.
- Scalable cross-skilling and upskilling by identifying adjacent skill sets and planning efficient reskilling programmes that broaden the talent pipeline.
- Integration into performance management by embedding competency profiles into reviews, setting clear, industry-aligned expectations for growth and contribution.
Strategic Advantages for Organizations: Adopting an ECSF-informed approach confers distinct competitive and operational advantages.
- Mitigates single-point knowledge failure by defining roles through competency sets, enabling resilient teams with deliberately overlapping proficiencies and reduced operational risk.
- Optimizes resource allocation by turning workforce planning into a data-driven process where FTE requests and training spend are justified against a standardized framework of need.
- Future-proofs the security function by anchoring workforce development to a framework designed to evolve alongside emerging threats and technologies.

HTB x ECSF Mapping

Hack The Box has mapped its certification portfolio to ENISA’s ECSF to support organizations and professionals in demonstrating competence against an EU-recognized standard. By mapping our highly hands-on, real-world certifications to ECSF role profiles, we enable employers, partners, and learners to connect HTB qualifications directly to specific cybersecurity roles, workforce requirements, and regulatory or strategic initiatives across the EU.

This resource presents how Hack The Box certifications map to ECSF role profiles, offering a clear pathway from entry-level to advanced expertise, while maintaining our signature focus on practical, lab-based training and operator-level realism.

Why did Hack The Box map its certifications to ENISA’s ECSF?

This resource showcases Hack The Box certifications that are:

Strongly aligned (Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs) – Certifications or certificate programs with direct and substantial coverage of the ECSF tasks, skills, and knowledge associated with a given profile. These are the most suitable HTB certifications for professionals whose primary role corresponds to that ECSF title.
Partially aligned (Relevant Certifications) – Certifications that provide meaningful but supporting coverage of the ECSF profile. These credentials strengthen adjacent skills, extend a professional’s scope, or support career progression into or around that role.

How to use this resource

To further guide progression and suitability, each certification is categorized by level:

Entry – Foundational certifications designed for early-career professionals or those transitioning into cybersecurity. They establish core technical capabilities and fundamental security concepts.
Intermediate – Certifications that validate solid, role-oriented technical skills and the ability to operate independently in common professional scenarios.
Advanced – Expert-level certifications that assess the ability to handle complex environments, advanced techniques, and high-impact scenarios.

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Incident Response

Incident Response Profile

Cyber Incident Responder

Monitor the organisation’s cybersecurity state, handle incidents during cyber-attacks and assure the continued operations of ICT systems.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Cyber Incident Responder

Entry:

Intermediate:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Digital Forensics

Digital Forensics Profile

Digital Forensics Investigator

Monitor the organisation’s cybersecurity state, handle incidents during cyber-attacks and assure the continued operations of ICT systems.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Digital Forensics Investigator

Entry:

Intermediate:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Pentesting

Pentesting Profile

Penetration Tester

Assess the effectiveness of security controls, reveals and utilise cybersecurity vulnerabilities, assessing their criticality if exploited by threat actors.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Penetration Tester

Entry:

Intermediate:

Advanced:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Management

Management Profile

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Manages an organisation’s cybersecurity strategy and its implementation to ensure that digital systems, services and assets are adequately secure and protected.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

Entry:

Intermediate:

Advanced:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Threat Intelligence

Threat Intelligence Profile

Cyber Threat Intelligence Specialist

Collect, process, analyse data and information to produce actionable intelligence reports and disseminate them to target stakeholders.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Cyber Threat Intelligence Specialist

Entry:

Intermediate:

Advanced:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Architecture

Architecture Profile

Cybersecurity Architect

Plans and designs security-by-design solutions (infrastructures, systems, assets, software, hardware and services) and cybersecurity controls.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Cybersecurity Architect

Entry:

Intermediate:

Advanced:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Audit

Audit Profile

Cybersecurity Auditor

Perform cybersecurity audits on the organisation’s ecosystem. Ensuring compliance with statutory, regulatory, policy information, security requirements, industry standards and best practices.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Cybersecurity Auditor

Entry:

Intermediate:

Advanced:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Education

Education Profile

Cybersecurity Educator

Improves cybersecurity knowledge, skills and competencies of humans.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Cybersecurity Educator

Entry:

Intermediate:

Advanced:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Implementation

Implementation Profile

Cybersecurity Implementer

Develop, deploy and operate cybersecurity solutions (systems, assets, software, controls and services) on infrastructures and products.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Cybersecurity Implementer

Entry:

Intermediate:

Advanced:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Research

Research Profile

Cybersecurity Researcher

Research the cybersecurity domain and incorporate results in cybersecurity solutions.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Cybersecurity Researcher

Entry:

Intermediate:

Advanced:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Risk

Risk Profile

Cybersecurity Risk Manager

Manage the organisation's cybersecurity-related risks aligned to the organisation’s strategy. Develop, maintain and communicate the risk management processes and reports.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Cybersecurity Risk Manager

Entry:

Intermediate:

Advanced:

HTB x ECSF Mapping - Legal & Compliance

Legal & Compliance Profile

Cyber Legal, Policy & Compliance Officer

Manages compliance with cybersecurity-related standards, legal and regulatory frameworks based on the organisation’s strategy and legal requirements.

ECSF Profile Title

Aligned Certifications/Certificate Programs

Relevant Certifications

Cyber Legal, Policy & Compliance Officer

Entry:

Intermediate:

Advanced:

Closing Remarks

Hack The Box certifications are designed and delivered around realistic enterprise environments, hands-on labs, and assessment scenarios that mirror the challenges faced by modern cybersecurity teams. By aligning these certifications with ENISA’s European Cybersecurity Skills Framework, Hack The Box enables organizations to plan, hire, and develop their cybersecurity workforce using a common European language of roles, tasks, skills, and knowledge, while retaining the depth, practicality, and challenge that define the HTB learning experience.

To find out more about Hack The Box certifications that are mapped to the ECSF, please contact us through https://academy.hackthebox.com/academy-for-business .