Cybersecurity Career Opportunities in 2021
The number of cyber-attacks is increasing at an alarming rate, and it is anticipated the annual damages from global cybercrimes will exceed $6 trillion by 2021. Nowadays, every industry and company requires the services of cybersecurity professionals, and there’s a rapid increase in the demand for security professionals. This brings cybersecurity bootcamps into the limelight as it helps raise awareness and train employees with the skills needed to battle cyber criminals.
Cybersecurity is now considered one of the fastest-growing fields and continues to grow swiftly at a solid rate of 28%. The increasing dependence of businesses on the element of interconnectivity grants cybercriminals an opportunity to exploit data. That’s why it is the perfect time to capitalize on the need of the hour and start your career in the niche of cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity Jobs to Pursue
Here are the six leading cybersecurity career opportunities in 2021:
Information Security Analyst
An information security analyst is one of the leading jobs in the realm of cybersecurity, and these professionals earn on-average up to $75,000 annually in the United States. Their main role is to monitor and identify security breaches and take the measures required to improve cybersecurity. These professionals are liable for the protection of the entire security infrastructure, and their job is to identify and mitigate risks & vulnerabilities before they transition into a cyber-attack.
There are over 14,000 jobs available on LinkedIn for information security analysts. These professionals also work with the business workforce to educate them about the effective ways of maintaining cybersecurity.
Ethical Hacker
Ethical hackers or white hat hackers are security professionals hired to penetrate the organization’s security infrastructure. Their job is to think like a hacker and find security vulnerabilities in the system. These professionals can identify and unveil system weaknesses that often the generic cybersecurity professionals oversee. That’s why many businesses are beginning to incorporate multiple ethical hackers in their security team to give themselves an edge over the cybercriminals.
There are over 7,000 jobs available on LinkedIn for ethical hackers, and these professionals earn about $91,000 annually in the United States. The best way to learn ethical hacking is to enroll in cybersecurity bootcamps and online training programs such as Certified Ethical Hacker.
Security Software Developer
Whenever businesses need to develop secure software and applications, they hire the services of a security software developer. These professionals hold the skills needed to incorporate safe security practices in the software’s design & development phases. Their active involvement in a software development lifecycle holds pivotal importance as it helps mitigate security loopholes and vulnerabilities.
These professionals are hired to administer and oversee a software development team and are also required for developing security strategies. There are over 1,600 jobs available on LinkedIn for security software developers, and these professionals on-average earn around $88,000 annually in the United States.
Vulnerability Analyst/Penetration Tester
The role of a vulnerability analyst or a penetration tester is pivotal to any security team as they help discover and identify the major system flaws. Using a proactive approach to IT system testing, these professionals are skilled in finding loopholes in the security system that can be infiltrated or penetrated by hackers and cybercriminals. Their major job responsibilities include social engineering penetration testing, web application penetration testing, database penetration tester, and network penetration tester.
The average yearly salary of a vulnerability analyst in the United States ranges around $82,000 and their role is invaluable to any system security team. Nowadays, Open-Source Intelligence and Cloud Penetration Testing are also gaining massive popularity, and there are multiple cybersecurity bootcamps focusing on these modern penetration methodologies.
Security Architect/Network Engineer
This is a great career path to follow for professionals sharing a deep passion for programming. Proficient programmers can easily transition into network engineers and security architect with training programs such as the Certified Network Defender. Their job responsibilities include network design & development, security practices implementation, and network security maintenance.
The average yearly salary of a security architect in the United States ranges around $86,000, and they help improves cybersecurity by designing network systems that counteract DDoS and malware attacks.
Digital Forensics Analyst
A digital forensics analyst is a professional who serves as an investigator and conducts a detailed cybercrime investigation by retrieving the essential digital evidence. These professionals are incredibly high in demand and are even hired by law enforcement agencies to find and link the pieces of digital evidence. These professionals have in-depth knowledge from cybersecurity bootcamps and other training programs and know how to recover deleted files, conduct data analysis, and help with other forensic tasks.
The average yearly salary of a digital forensic analyst in the United States ranges around $73,000. These specialized professionals are the ones who not only help resolve the cybersecurity issue but also help identify the perpetrator or cybercriminal.
