How To Land a Job in Cybersecurity

In the information technology field, people used to plan their career choices around programming, data analytics, and DevOps. However, with the changing times, more people are now drawn to cybersecurity.

In mid-2022, we saw Cleartrip and Saudi Aramco data breaches. There were also attacks by the Mantis botnet and Maui ransomware. All this in just one month. This shows how important it is for corporations to invest in security. As a result of a growing number of cyberattacks and increasingly sophisticated attack methods, the demand for cybersecurity professionals has grown significantly. In some cities and countries around the world, cybersecurity opportunities are abundant, offering lucrative salaries and other perks.   

Whether you’re a college graduate, a programming newbie, or an IT professional, you can get a job in cybersecurity if you’re passionate about it. Let’s look at some ways to land a job in the cybersecurity field. 

Basic Skills Required for Cybersecurity Jobs

You need some basic skills before you can get into the world of cybersecurity. While the security industry is vast and there are several tools and technologies you can learn, there are a few basic skills that any aspiring cybersecurity professional should have: 

• Understand Linux: Most corporations run on Linux, so it’s a good idea to have a workable knowledge of this operating system. Linux is used to run servers and mainframes, which makes it an essential skill for a cybersecurity expert.
• Understand networking: You should know about networking fundamentals. Learn how the internet works and how corporate entities use it for their functions. Also, learn some cyber security buzzwords and what they mean. This will help you understand the basics of networking and security.
• Learn programming: You don’t have to be a programming expert but make sure you learn basic coding skills. Some languages you can look into are SQL, JavaScript, and Python.

Cybersecurity Training

There are several free and paid cybersecurity training resources and classes online. You might pick up some valuable tips from these classes. This is especially true if you’re a cybersecurity newbie and are learning things from scratch. There are many other ways to gain expertise in the field, such as: 

• Blogs: This is the first step. Read cybersecurity blogs and stay updated with the recent happenings in the IT world. There are blogs for all levels of readers. You can start with some basic blog posts and then move on to more advanced ones.
• Courses: Some certifications can help your career take off. For example, the Microsoft Cybersecurity Architect Expert certification can help you land a good job. Another option is the ISACA Cybersecurity Fundamentals certification.
• Bug bounties: Many companies have bug bounty programs that reward you for reporting bugs in their software. If you find a critical bug, you’ll get a monetary reward. Some of them might need advanced programming abilities, while others may just need keen observational skills.
• Hacking challenges: You can participate in security competitions such as “capture the flag.” It’s a timed challenge in which the competitors have to claim the flag within a specific period. When you capture the flag, your score increases. The flag is generally a random string that’s embedded in the challenge.  Playing games like these will polish your cybersecurity skills.

Types of Cybersecurity Jobs

Depending on the company, there are several types of cyber security jobs. Let’s look at some prominent ones:

• IT security officer: As an IT security officer, your job is to secure your company’s network and protect it from hackers and malicious entities. You also have to find any possible attack vectors in the system. There are several tools that you can install and get regular updates from them. As an IT security officer, you have to ensure that your company’s data is safe at all times. You’ll also need to report regularly to management.
• Security Architect: As a security architect, you need to design the IT framework for your company. The architecture of the company’s computer system should be as simple as possible to minimize risk. Apart from building the framework, you also have to develop security procedures and policies. The IT security officer will work on the framework you develop.
• Cybersecurity journalist: You can work for a security magazine and report cybersecurity incidents. Since you don’t have to do coding, you don’t need to learn advanced programming. However, you must have basic programming knowledge to understand how a particular incident happened.

There’s So Much More

These are just some cybersecurity job profiles that you might be interested in. However, there are several others like cloud security engineers, cybersecurity consultants, incident response managers, and cybersecurity admin jobs.

Once you update your skills and enter the world of cybersecurity, you can find the right job based on your interests and skill set.