Cybersecurity Career Pathway – A Career Guide for Cybersecurity Students

Cybersecurity is the process that involves the protection of computers, their data, and their serves, electronic and mobile devices, their networks from malicious breaches and digital attacks.

Cybersecurity is also further commonly classified into six different types, namely; network security, application security, information security, operational security, disaster recovery, and business continuity, and end-user education. All these types of Cybersecurity deal with different levels of threat ranging from unauthorized access to data asset protection and from finding bugs to preventing security vulnerabilities and much more.

Cybersecurity is a rapidly growing field that has many exciting job opportunities for the people who wish to pursue it. Nowadays, Cybersecurity experts can be found in almost every imaginable industry, let it be the educational sector, financial institutions, business corporations, defense firms,s or even government agencies. Any organization that deals with special and classified data of any sort hire a highly trained Cybersecurity professional to secure its systems and networks.

Cybrsecurity Career Path

Cybersecurity is an eye-catching career for many young and ambitious people. If anyone of you is looking for a career in cybersecurity, you don’t have to wait any longer. People of every age and gender can join this tech sector; also, it doesn’t matter what kind of educational background you have. Here we have made a list of things that you need to take a step in this occupation.

Personal skills

• Problem-Solving Skills:

If you are highly interested in this area of technology, you must know that problem-solving skills play a major role in the everyday work of a Cybersecurity professional. This field requires creative solutions to ongoing problems and malfunctions in the digital system.

• Risk-taking skills:

You must know that this job is all about risk and security concerns where sometimes a Cybersecurity specialist must take an adequate amount of risk to solve problems for the benefit of the organization.

• Communication Skills:

A Cybersecurity professional must work closely with other individuals who work in many different departments. Therefore, for the proper conveyance of the message, it is important to effectively communicate and describe your judgments, concerns, and solutions to others. It is also necessary to speak clearly on the strategy, policy, and as well on technical concerns about Cybersecurity with your organization and management team.

• Attention to fine points

The job of a Cybersecurity person is to defend an organization against cyber breaches. Therefore, it is required that the individual must be highly vigilant and detail-oriented to successfully detect liabilities and risks. This person is also accountable for continuous network monitoring. He has to quickly identify the problems and rapidly come up with solutions before any breach or virus can damage the organization’s data.

Technical knowledge

• Cybersecurity degree levels:

Employers have this psychology to hire a professional with at least a college degree in Cybersecurity jobs. A degree in IT and computer science is highly appreciated if you are taking a step in the cyber world. The majority of people who are already working in this field have a BS degree in at least one of these two fields. For people who are looking forward to securing an entry-level work can also join a two-year program for the associate degree in cybersecurity. Although for even higher posts, people with at least a master’s degree in either of these fields are hired.

• Train in general IT:

If anyone of you already has a degree in the fields mentioned above, it’s high time for you to start learning IT basics. Many experts suggest that only the knowledge of IT will help you understand the fundamentals of cybersecurity, such as administration and configuration of networks, systems, databases, and coding. Also, if it has been a few years since you graduated, we suggest you take a course in IT as it will enhance your skills and keep you updated with ongoing activities in the tech world.

• Certifications:

Many of you wonder that the Cybersecurity cannot become your career if you don’t have a BS in IT or computer science or if you don’t have any knowledge about IT, then you are wrong. Yes, I mean, we know that background in IT can help you assess in the field easily, but you can still join it if you are willing to take one or two courses for Cybersecurity certificates. A certificate can show to the employers that you are highly qualified within Cybersecurity fields, and you have also gained some working experience. The certification might not get you an executive job, but you will be hired on entry-level positions from where you can easily work your way up.

Some famous cybersecurity certifications are:

1. The Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) certification.
2. The Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) certification.
3. The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSPY).
4. Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA).
5. Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP).
6. CompTIA A+
7. CompTIA Network+
8. Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundation

• Programming Skills

A huge range of coding and programming tools are required to design essential security programs and scrutinize cyber-attacks and digital breaches. For systems and networks, programming experience is a fundamental necessity.

• Technical Abilities

Being a technology-focused field, in cybersecurity, you will be ordered to perform tasks such as solving troubleshoots, monitoring of continuous networks, providing immediate security solutions, and maintenance of information security systems. Only a technical savvy Cybersecurity professional can perform daily activities like these.

• Cyber Knowledge

The field of Cybersecurity is not just restricted to computers. A Cybersecurity specialist must work on a variety of different operating systems, computer systems, servers and networks, wireless networks, and mobile devices. He also must be up to date about all kinds of developments in the cyber world.

• Forensics skills

Computer forensics and Cybersecurity are two entirely different fields and are also dealt with separately, but they do have a close connection. By having little knowledge of computer forensics, you can certainly excel in your Cybersecurity career. For effective protection of an organization’s assets and the prevention of security breaches, you’ll need a firm understanding of what might take place if your efforts fail and how can you recover the conceded data. Due to all these reasons, most of the Cybersecurity degree programs offer courses to understand computer forensics.

• Hacking

To successfully protect the company’s network and set-ups, you will need to know as a Cybersecurity person how they can be exploited. Usually, most Cybersecurity professionals learn “ethically hacking” to secure the system from other cyber-criminals and particularly hackers. Thus, you can understand how the network can be breached and how it will be easy for you to suggest a solution for these thwarting attacks.

Tools and technology

Some of the most operative tools that are actively used by Cybersecurity experts are software programs, which are primarily designed to protect against hackers, digital breaches, and viruses. Today Cybersecurity technology is focused on some of the most challenging areas which are listed below:

• Access Management
• Botnet Protection
• Cloud-Based Security
• Data Encryption
• Data Leak Prevention
• Endpoint Protection
• Intrusion Protection
• Malware/Virus Security
• Next-Generation Firewall
• Wireless Security

Practice

• Learning desire

Like any technical field, Cybersecurity is also a fast-changing field. People who are working in this field will need to be a dedicated learner; they must stay in touch with all the current industry trends. Self-education also plays a vital role in this career.

• Practical Experience

Practical experience is appreciated in this field as much as we appreciate the qualifications and certifications here. Humans tend to make mistakes, and only practice can polish their skills. Our last piece of advice for a person pursuing this field is to gain as much practical experience as possible.

Discovering jobs in cybersecurity:

As a freshly graduate or certified Cybersecurity person, it must be hard for you to choose which type of job will be best for you. We suggest you focus your interests, try brainstorming before selecting any of the Cybersecurity categories. As a human you cannot be an expert in all the categories, employers might suggest you focus on a particular area and try to do well in it (e.g., operational security)

New cyber threats appear constantly; as a result, Cybersecurity professionals can find employment in a wide range of industries. Few of the most common career paths in this arena include:

• Security specialist
• Incident responder
• Security administrator
• Vulnerability Assessor
• Cryptographer
• Security manager
• Security architect
• Chief information security officer
• Security analyst
• Security auditor
• Security director
• Forensic expert
• Penetration tester
• Security consultant
• Security engineer
• Source code auditor

Building a resume:

To get on board with decent employment, the last requirement other than an interview is creating a resume. Many people nowadays try to get as much education as they can but forget to put it on their resume. We have summarized some of the basic requirements that you must add while making a resume as a Cybersecurity professional:

• College Degree
• Relevant Job Experience
• Hard IT Skills
• Professional IT Certifications
• IT Achievements
• Tools and technologies you can operate

Conclusion:

If you follow all the steps mentioned above, we think that you get a nice job in cybersecurity. We hope that this article helped provide all the information related to a Cybersecurity career pathway.