CYBER SECURITY CAREER
A GAME CHANGER
Cyber security has undoubtedly become the most demanded skill in the industry. Although the situation seems to get better but nearly every company and organisation has prepared protocols and frameworks for online platforms to keep their operations runnin if these unprecedented episodes of lockdowns persist. These online platforms, although very efficient, are also prone to certain problems and malfunctions if not secured by highly skilled professionals. And in this age of technological advancement, industry needs game changers and proactive professionals to solve newly emerging problems for these network systems.
Although the professionals from this field protect their company’s data from being compromised, handle malware and keep the online working smooth for employees and users, there are advanced challenges that are unknown to even the most experienced professionals. This requires the professionals to stay on top of all the emerging trends and approaches in cyber world to solve these sophisticated problems.
We will discuss some of the basics that might help you a great dealif you are considering cyber security as your
career option.
KNOW THE CAREER PROSPECTS
Well, would you believe that the IT field is basically short of workforce because of a huge demand that has suddenly occurred? This is caused by increasing digital Traffic during COVID lockdowns and Work-from-home strategies implemented in several workspaces. The situation is not likely to revert back anytime soon. So as more and more banks, retailers, companies and governmental organisations shift online, they are facing certain problems. These problems include Data breaches, cyber-attacks and operations Malware. There are nearly not enough qualified people to do the Job, or to do it efficiently. According to the US Bureau of labour statistics the data suggested 1.3 million Job openings by 2022 in IT field. This demand is not based on the workers leaving workforce but purely because demand for the new IT professionals needed in the industry particularly in the IT security field. This Gap in digital workforce was not anticipated hence the shortage of cyber security experts occurredthroughout the industry. Which lead to the inconveniences faced by a lot of Organisations right now. As result, although it is stressful for the industry, it creates endless opportunities and job titles in the field of Cyber security for new professionals and makes it a considerable career option for the future.
KNOW THE CAREER TITLES
There are a lot of options when it comes to choosing a career in cyber security. The professionals include security engineers, security analysts, security specialists, security architects, malware respondents, vulnerability analysts. These professionals are responsible for working in different areas of cyber security. For example, CISO (chief information security officers)or security administrators protect the data breaches while Security Architects are qualified professionals to architect data security systems that prevent it at the first place from happening. There are vulnerability analysts who detect the loopholes in the cyber security systems and solve the problems called Penetration Testers. Likewise, the Data breach respondents act in the times when a data breach occurs in a company or organisation. Similarly, there are several job titles based on how they ensure information security for an organisation. There is a vast range of job titles like Computer systems manager, Network architect, Systems analyst, IT coordinator, Network administrator, Network engineer, Service desk analyst, System administrator. All of these based on one’s qualification, certification, experience and how useful one can be in the world of cyber security. Thankfully for the interested people, this demand is only expected to rise as more online workspaces are created in the future. This seems to be a promising sign for people to make intelligent and reliable career choices in this field.
KNOW THE ACADEMIC REQUIREMENT
So initially a person looking for career in cyber security requires a bachelor’s degree in computer science, forensic computing,information technology, cyber security or any other closely-related subject in information technology. There are other jobs which can require an advanced Degree which is a master’s degree for performing advanced level operations such as Chief Information Security Officers which oversee the whole Information technology security operation and require certain years of experience. The students learn policy, practices and procedures for the cyber security. However, a certification of some technical skills on top of your graduate course is considered highly valued as well. Moreover, the cyber security clearances are also required in some workspaces that have highly classified data like military and governmental organisations. The Salary trends are also attractive and increasingly competitive based on your qualification. For example, the national median salary for the highly paid job of CISO is closely around $143000 which requires basic graduate degree with some skills and experience in the field. On the other Hand, salary for an IT security consultant is expected to be around $81000 with related Bachelor’s degree and skill-set. This range varies with the number of certifications and skills you have on top of your graduate degree making you versatile in the Job climate. However, there are certain skills that you can learn that will help you prove your worth in the industry as a promising cybersecurity professional.
KNOW THE CERTIFICATIONS, SKILLS AND TRAINING
Well basic information and degrees prepares you for generic services but they also help you in deciding which particular field you want to choose in the future. These Particular fields require certain certifications and skills. There are a number of Certifications provided in the fields that can train you to become a certified professional in the industry. The certification and the training process include several basic skills of communication, programming and problems solving skills along with some technical security risk analysis, network protocols intruder techniques and handling malicious codes. These skills and certifications are acquired through exclusive learning and practical work for a significant amount of time.
GAME CHANGING SKILLS.
Firstly, Virtual Machines could be the most effective platform forthe professionals to work with hypervisors as it eliminates the dependency on any OS for operating and help you become platform agnostic. Secondly learning a command line interface like BASH, PowerShell and Zsh%, commonly referred to as shell is also very essential for a competitive job experience in the industry there are certain certifications that help you get well versed interacting with the operating system gives you the lowest level of functionality.
Mastering the command line gets you to do more in less time. System administration involves configuring and maintaining the devices, its about knowing your platform. Learn basic skills, extract files, recover and learn the administration. Moreover, computer networking is also an important skill to understand the transfer of data and helps you troubleshoot efficiently TCP/IP and OCI learning their layers and operating procedures. There are number of certifications that can help you in all of the above and help you get these skill-sets and boost your professional worth in the industry as a cybersecurity official.
GAME CHANGING CERTIFICATIONS.
There are a lot of certifications that might help you out in stepping your game up in this field. The Certified Ethical Hackers (CEH) are becoming more and more important as the companies need to manage, develop and oversee information security systems. Likewise, Certified Information Systems Auditor CISA is another certification that allows the professionals to audit, control, monitor, and assess the present industrial systems. CompTIA Security+, Certified Information Systems Security Professional CISSP are some other certifications that are currently needed and highly valued in the industry. Moreover, the Professionals looking for an entry-level active position in the security and possessing a skill-set and understanding information security can take SANS GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC). For individuals looking to have a career in incident response and investigation of cybersecurity systems, CyberSec First Responder (CFR) certification could be a viable option to boost their profile. There are a lot more of these certifications that might align with the amount of time and effort you can invest for these certifications.
There is no denying that the organisation systems are at risk more than ever, hence needing qualified, certified, dedicated professionals ready to deal with the modernized problems of this emerging field. There is a report by HM Government last year that stated more than 60 percent of organisations and businesses that suffered a cyber security breach including large organisations proving that Digital security is an area where professionals should have a considerable skill-set, qualification, experience and afuturistic approach in solving these problems to provide safe and secure working platforms for all organisationsincluding Hospitals, business, Companies and governmental organisations.
