With multiple industries now connected to the internet and collecting petabytes of user and business data every day, it’s inherent that they’ll require to store, manage, and protect it from being compromised. This is one of the main reasons why cybersecurity specialists have increased with huge margins in the past few years. And this global trend is not going anywhere soon.
Cyber Security professionals are responsible for maintaining data privacy and protecting it from unauthorized access or theft throughout its lifecycle. They implement strategies that protect an organization’s valuable information against cyber threats and criminal activities. So, let’s discuss different career paths in Cyber Security and how to be a part of this growing IT sector.
What is the Need for Cyber Security professionals?
Cyber Security professionals ensure that the data stays in the rights hands. At present, almost every industry generates tons of data that includes customer information, project management, HR, finance, classified information, etc. Therefore, it’s important to keep the valuable information safe and secure from cyber-criminals. Hence, employees with proper Cyber Security Certifications are in huge demand these days.
From cryptographers to ethical hackers, cybersecurity professionals work in every industry to maintain different aspects of data security. They constantly analyze find vulnerabilities that might be used to infiltrate into the system and perform all sorts of attacks such as Denial-of-Service(DOS) attacks, phishing, SQL injections, Malware, Man-in-the-middle attack, and more.
How to become, Pursue a Career in Cyber Security
Below are the three main stages or steps you should take in order to become a successful Cybersecurity Professional:
Earn a Bachelor’s Degree
Most entry-level jobs in cybersecurity require a bachelor’s degree in either cybersecurity or related fields such as computer science or information technology. Not only you’ll learn about networking and data security, but you’ll also learn about various programming languages, databases, ethics, and other skills.
These skills will help you understand the structure of any database and create multi-abstractions to maintain data privacy and security. Moreover, you can also enroll in some Cyber Security certifications and workshops that will help you work on real-world cybersecurity projects and learn about the roles and responsibilities of cybersecurity professionals.
Advanced Training
There are some companies that require a candidate to have a dedicated Cyber Security Course or master’s degree in the related field. These advanced training programs will teach you additional skills and instruct you to protect computer networks, databases, and other infrastructures against cyber threats.
By the time you complete advanced training, you will be recognized as a mid-experienced professional who can analyze complex infrastructures, find vulnerabilities, provide solutions, and suggest best practices to avoid any threat.
D.Sc. Degree in Cyber Security
D. Sc. generally takes around 3-5 years to complete including the dissertation. It combines the computer science emphasis with the concepts of IT security so that the students can learn the latest technologies and perform various operations, such as data collection, reverse engineering, software exploitation, etc. you can also take some online Cyber Security course and enroll in seminars to gain more knowledge.
Pass Security Clearance
After a few years of experience in the industry, you’ll become a fully experienced professional in your field. However, if you want to work with government agencies or the military, then you have to get a security clearance from the government. It says that the candidate has a solid background with no illegal activities done in his past. After the clearance, you can work with the government and department of defense on classified information and protect it against cybercriminals.
Career Paths in Cyber Security
Because of the new threats appearing constantly, cybersecurity is also diversified creating new opportunities and innovative career paths. Some major career paths in Cyber Security are:
Penetration Tester
Penetration testers proactively test the IT infrastructure to find the vulnerabilities lying within the system. In other words, you can say that they try to hack the system in order to find the loopholes and configuration problems that might not be discovered in normal conditions.
Security Architect
A security architect works with one or more organizations and responsible for developing security policies and procedures for the employees, network, and other data systems. Security Architects deals with the issues related to network security and prevents breaching incidents that might occur in the future.
IT Security Consultant
Security consultants advise the clients on how to protect their infrastructure from cyber threats and achieve the security objects in a cost-effective manner. They are hired by both small and large companies to get an unbiased perspective on their current security systems.
Information Security Analyst
An information security analyst or ISA protects the organization’s network and computer systems through various software, firewall, and encryption techniques. In addition, ISA is responsible to design the plans and methods to recover the lost data or how to handle the situation if a cyber attack does occur.
Chief Information Security Officer(CISO)
The CISO oversees the general operations and assigns the responsibilities to other IT professionals in the IT security division of an organization. Responsible to manage the data security needs of the organization, CISO works with upper-level management and assigns the task to other cybersecurity professionals. As a CISO, you should extensive knowledge of cybersecurity and years of experience in the industry with a good track record.
Conclusion
Cyber Security is a truly diversified field in IT increasing demands for professionals all over the world. Apart from the above career paths, you can also become a forensic computer analyst, IT security engineer, security system administrator, cryptographer, and security engineer. So, if you want to learn and start your career in any of these profiles of cyber security, now is the perfect time to do so.
