The Ultimate Guide to Starting a Career in Cyber Security

Are you looking forward to building a career in a booming industry?

Do you have those hacking & coding skills?

If yes, then starting a career in Cyber Security is the perfect option for you.

Cyber Security is an in-demand field these days. With the increasing cyber attacks, the need to prevent data and information has arisen.

If you also want to start a lucrative career in Cyber Security? Here are the few things that you should know.

What is Cyber Security?

Cyber Security is an ethical practice of protecting the systems including hardware, software, networks and programs from all sorts of digital attacks. These cyber attacks are usually done with the purpose of accessing sensitive information, stealing money and creating an interruption in normal business processes.

Cyber attacks are so dangerous that they can destroy businesses and damage people’s professional as well as personal lives. Cyber Security is often referred to as Information Technology security.

Importance of Cyber Security

The advancement in internet marketing has not only led to positive changes but has also increased the number of cyber attacks. These attacks have been posing a great threat to organizations, employees, and even consumers.

Cyber Security is essentially important because there are some organizations like military, financial, corporate medical etc that have a huge store of information and data available on computers and other devices.

Moreover, at times, this data is particularly confidential and sensitive for which unauthorized access could lead to negative consequences.

To prevent the data from all sorts of negative access and cyber attacks, Cyber Security comes into limelight. Over the years, the rate of cyber attacks has been increasing and so the scope of Cyber Security has also increased.

Also, as more businesses have turned digital and more devices connected to the Internet.

Simultaneously, nearly every part of our lives is tracked electronically like our financial information, health records, personal & professional information. This has opened the gates for hackers to perform unethical hacking.

Demand for Cyber Security Professionals

A harsh reality about the Cyber Security landscape is there is a huge gap between the demand and supply of Cyber Security professionals. There are not enough Cyber Security professionals to combat hackers.

Adding to the facts, there will be around 3.5 million Cyber Security job opening by 2021 out of which 1.5 million is expected to remain unfilled.

A majority of employers are worried about this excessive demand for Cyber Security professionals over considerably less supply. However, if you are looking forward to starting a career in Cyber Security. here is the right time.

Top notch companies are looking for expert Cyber Security professionals to prevent them from the malicious activities of the hacker. This makes the Cyber Security domain one of the most competitive and promising career opportunities.

The reason why the gap between the demand and supply of Cyber Security professionals increased was the traditional methods of hiring.

Hiring managers considered a candidate with a   degree of formal education promising than a school graduate with serious coding skills.

The educational background was given far more leverage than the skills. But now the time has changed. If you want to build a career in Cyber Security, you only need to have basic educational requirements along with Cyber Security certification.

Basic Skills Required to become a Cyber Security Professional

1. Having a Basic Knowledge of Computer

A majority of Cyber Security professionals need to have basic computer knowledge. Here basic computer knowledge is not just confined to excel, powerpoint and word.

A Cyber Security professional should know how to operate the computer fully, should be well versed in accessing the system, ports and system firewalls, should know the concepts and work of IP and various interfaces.

This knowledge is crucial as it will help you to perform some complicated software tasks with ease.

2. Network Knowledge

The knowledge of networks is something that has to be attained no matter what. You just cannot start your career in Cyber Security without having basic knowledge about the networks.

There might be people who will be indulged completely into networks, however, if you want to learn Cyber Security completely, you should make sure that you have the knowledge of networks along with subnetting, routing, switching, & VLAN concepts.

After you have gained the necessary information about the networks, you can move on to learning details about security configurations of devices, encryption and algorithms.

Being proficient in networks will give you an edge over the other candidates and will elevate your resume value along with making you the most potential candidate.

3. Command Over at Least One Computer Language

Having command over one computer language is a must for making a career in Cyber Security. In Cyber Security, almost everything is connected with coding.

Thus, in the process of becoming a Cyber Security professional, you should understand more common programming languages like Java, C/C++, PHP, Python etc.

Apart from these, you should also have a knowledge of Assembly language. It will help you in performing reverse engineering and malware analysis.

Cyber Security Career Paths

A lot of Cyber Security job positions are specialized. Here are the most exclusive Cyber Security career paths to choose after you learn Cyber Security.

1. Security Consultant

A Security Consultant is an advisor and guide that assesses risks, problems, and solutions for security issues for different organizations. They assist them in protecting and securing their data & information.

They design and implement the best possible security solutions according to the needs and requirements of the organizations.

Security consultants are also called database security consultant, network security consultant, computer security consultant & information security consultant.

They are expected to be flexible in nature as their work requires them to deal with the security systems of diverse companies and industries. As a Security Consultant, you can work for consulting firms, contractors or even be self-employed.

Job Description of a Security Consultant

(i) Implementing the best practices to protect computers, networks, data and information systems from potential cyber attacks.

(ii) Carrying out the vulnerability testing, risk analyses and security assessments.

(iii) Conducting research on security standards, security systems and authentication protocols.

(iv) Testing security solutions with the help of industry standard analysis methods.

(v) Planning, researching and designing robust security architectures for any IT projects.

(vi) Offering technical supervision and guidance to the security team.

(vii) Immediately responding to security-related incidents.

(viii) Updating security systems according to the requirements.

2. Ethical Hacker

An ethical hacker, also known as the white hat hacker is a security expert who ethically & with authorized permission penetrates through the network, application or computer system.

This is done in order to find security glitches and vulnerabilities that could have caused by a hacker. The ethical hackers are also called Penetration testers owing to their work of penetrating through various computer resources.

They use a variety of tools to identify weak spots & prevent organizations from any potential cyber attack.

They use the same skills that could have been used by the hackers to identify the issue and thereby provide suggestions on how to remediate those vulnerabilities so that the organizations can strengthen their overall security. Ethical Hacking is a lucrative job opportunity with high salary.

Job Description of an Ethical Hacker

(i) Carrying out penetration tests on web applications, networks and computer systems.

(ii) Creating scripts for vulnerabilities tests that includes penetration testing and risk assessment.

(iii) Designing and implementing new penetration tools and tests.

(iv) Setting up security policies for digital protection.

(v) Discovering security loopholes that the attackers could possibly use for exploitation.

(vi) Developing low-level tools that improve security testing and monitoring.

3. Security Architect

A Security Architect is the one who designs, creates and implements security policies on the network and computer security for an organization.

The Security Architects are responsible for designing complicated and intricate security structures and also make sure that they work optimally.

Apart from this, they also create and implement security systems to fight DDoS, MitM, Phishing and spear phishing, SQL injection & hacker intrusions.

Job Description of a Security Architect

(i) Having a thorough understanding of the technology and information systems of an organization.

(ii) Planning, researching and creating robust security architectures for IT projects.

(iii) Carrying out vulnerability testing, risk analyses and security assessments.

(iv) Conducting research on security standards, security systems and authentication protocols.

(v) Immediately responding to security-related incidents.

(vi) Updating security systems according to the requirements.

How to get Qualified as a Cyber Security Professional

1. Keep Yourself Updated

Cyber Security is a dynamic landscape that constantly witnesses changes in trends and updates. Technologies are always changing and new advances emerge frequently.

If you are looking forward to building a career in Cyber Security, you have to keep yourself up to date with relevant industry news.

2. Evaluate Your Strengths

This is one of the most important things to consider if you want to learn Cyber Security. You need to evaluate your strengths to make sure Cyber Security is the right choice for you.

Check whether you have analytical ability and are tech savvy. This is because the Cyber Security job positions involve a lot of tech work with network and computer devices.

You should also be having skills for identifying and solving problems.

3. The Importance of Networking

Networking is one of the best practices that you can adopt if you are looking forward to building a career in Cyber Security.

If you are confused about where, to begin with, you can connect with individuals working in the Cyber Security domain. You can join online groups on social media platforms like LinkedIn and Facebook.

4. Acquire Cyber Security Certification

Become a Cyber Security professional that you aspire for by acquiring Cyber Security certification. Earning a Cyber Security certification is a great way to kickstart your career.

With the increased demand for Cyber Security professionals, having a cybersecurity certification can add to your resume value and will also showcase your skills and expertise.

Having a Cyber Security certification can also help you to stand out from other candidates. The Cyber Security certification will help you to build a solid background in Cyber Security domain.

Wrapping Up

Cyber Security is an Evergreen Industry that offers a lucrative career that offers high Cyber Security salary packages & unlimited career growth options.

While being in the Cyber Security industry, you can get a chance to work with High Profile Agencies.

As the demand for Cyber Security professionals in increasing at a rapid pace, your job will always be secured if you build a career in Cyber Security.

Hopefully, with this post, you must have got a broad perspective of starting a career in Cyber Security. So, if you are inspired by the opportunities provided by Cyber Security? Enroll in our Cyber Security Course to elevate your career.