GETTING STARTED INTO CYBERSECURITY

TABLE OF CONTENTS

• Cybersecurity As a Career
• Degree And Certification Path
• Skillsets
• Career Path
• Getting Placement
• Salary
• Conclusion

CYBERSECURITY AS A CAREER

Do you inspire for finding computer weaknesses and enthusiastic about how hackers can break into a system? then you may be in the right direction towards becoming a cybersecurity professional. 

These Professionals sole responsibilities for their organization is to build, test, and analyze systems to keep data and information safe from hackers and other external threats. 

Accellion (now kiteworks) in February 22 2021 was hit by a supply chain attack that affected a large number of its high profile clients. The attackers were able to infiltrate the organizations network through its affiliated partner, suppliers or any other party that would have accessed the network. although, Accellion's was a the secondary target as attacking through it gave threat actors access to numerous Accellion's customers and partners. The attack was successful via the Accellion's File Transfer Appliance (FTA) which was vulnerable to zero-day.

Accellion's clients such as kroger, Reserve Bank of New Zealand and the University of Colorado were affected. 100 of 300 Accellion's client were affected. 

The Accellion's breach is a perfect example of an attack that could have been prevented.

Cybersecurity industry are investing in cybersecurity research and actively hiring security experts. Not only is becoming a cyber security expert a rewarding profession, it's also a great line of work to pursue if you have a technical background. 

DEGREE AND CERTIFICATION PATHS

1. Bachelor's degree: Today there are tertiary institutions offering degrees in cybersecurity (or a related field). This is a 4-5 years degree that can be obtained either online or physically at a university. Make sure you do diligent research about the school and their program, read reviews and decide if that's an investment you want to make.

2. Certifications: Obtaining a bachelor's degree may not be an option, there are also cybersecurity certifications that can be obtained via technical training programs like Niobreach to help individuals fast track their career into cybersecurity. Some certification include Certified Ethical Hacker(CEH), Cybersecurity Analyst(CYSA+), Security+, Certified Information Security Manager(CISM), Certified Information System security Professional(CISSP), Offensive Security Certified Professional(OSCP) and others. Some recognized cybersecurity certification issuers includes:

•  EC-COUNCIL
•  COMPTIA
•  Offensive Security
•  International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC)² 

3. Workshop And Self-taught: Here is another way experienced can be earned both for beginners and professionals. workshops will improve your knowledge. Reading and learning more on cybersecurity topics via articles and tutorials will prepare you for the career opportunities ahead.

SKILLSETS

Having the right set of skills could be critical to getting hired. A good way of acquiring skillets is by completing at least one of the degree and certification paths. Here are the cybersecurity skills for beginners to kick start a successful career in cybersecurity: 

Technical Skills

• Coding: Understanding the basic principles of coding in languages such as HTML,JavaScript,PHP,Python,SQL and other languages will provide you with valuable insights into how they are prone to security breaches and empowers you to become a more efficient professional.
• Networking: Having understanding behind how to set up and maintain local area networks (LAN), wide area networks (WAN), virtual private networks (VPN) is highly beneficial for configuring Intrusion detection systems, Intrusion Prevention Systems, and firewalls.
• Operating Systems: must have a strong knowledge of operating environments such as Windows, Linux, and Mac OS. You should be comfortable navigating with command-line interfaces such as Linux’s Terminal or Windows’ Powershell. 
• Applications: Whether web, mobile or desktop applications are integral tools for businesses. knowing how they work will help you uncover vulnerabilities when conducting a security test.

Soft Skills

• Communication: The ability to translate technical concepts whether written or verbal to individual from non technical background.
• Teamwork: You never can tell how large the team may be, by collaborating and sharing with the rest of the team will produce greater output. 
• Adaptability: Because Attacks are getting sophisticated by the day, new cybersecurity technologies are being deployed due to advancement in technology, new threats emerges, Adopting the mindset of a  lifelong learner can help you keep up with these changes.
• Critical Thinking: Able to think through what could possibly go wrong, assess the severity of threats, and weigh the potential impact empowers you to focus your energy on the tasks where you’ll have the biggest impact. Developing your critical thinking skills can help you to:

• Ask the right questions
•  Evaluate and assess data
• Identify your assumptions
• Consider alternatives
• Understand context
• Draw data-driven conclusions

CAREER PATHS

Since cybersecurity is a huge field, one can take many different paths in cybersecurity. Keep in mind that cybersecurity job titles may vary from company to company, but in general, here are some common roles:

• Cybersecurity Generalist: Jack of all trades for smaller organization.
• Network Security Engineer: These people are involved in managing the network security of their company, from firewalls to routers to VPNs. They are usually found in bigger companies.
• Cloud Security Engineer: This role is mainly involved in providing security for cloud-based platforms.
• Application Security Specialist: These are the people who are involved in protecting applications from threats using a mix of hardware and software skills.
• Identity and Access Management Engineer: A sub-field of cybersecurity that mainly focuses on digital identities within an organization to ensure correct levels of system and prevent unauthorized use.
• Security Architect: These are the people who are involved in designing, building and managing the implementation of network and computer security for a company.
• Penetration Tester: Penetration Testers are those who get paid to legally hack into software systems to identify vulnerabilities.
• Malware/Forensics Analyst: These are the people who are involved in digging the malware.
• Incident Response Analyst: These are the people who responded to any type of security breach and limit the damage.
• Cryptographer: Here people are involved in encrypting sensitive information to ensure corporate privacy.
• Security Trainer: Trains employees in security practices.
• Cybersecurity Engineer: Designs, develops and implements network solutions to defend against cyber-threats.

GETTING PLACEMENT

Getting placed for cybersecurity roles are quite challenging because its a high risk sphere and due to the shortage of experienced professional, that has placed experienced professional over inexperience or beginners in the hiring process. Another challenges with getting placed is trust which is paramount requirement for getting hired, so while getting experienced, degrees and certifications also build on your trustworthiness.

As a beginner who is trying to break in, having a background in technology or prior security experience, communication and presentation soft skills can get you an entry-level role with the right certification and networking. A great way of networking is to attend webinars, conferences and seminars channeled towards cybersecurity. Job recruiters are often at these events and are interested in potential new employees.

Other great ways of gaining experience are by doing internships, apprenticeship, follow and observe professionals closely or secretly, volunteer for startups.

Giving that cybersecurity is a dynamic area of specialization, you have to be adaptive. The best way to remain relevant in the field is to continuously earn certifications and take courses, this will not only keep you on top of industry trends but also increase your salary and job position.

SALARY

The cybersecurity industry has a good pay range. The Average annual salary in Nigeria is N4,000,000- N10,000,000.

CONCLUSION

Regardless the industry you are transitioning from, these are great ways towards getting started.

Now that you know how to get started in cyber security, if you are interested, do not let your current education background or career path limit your options. As long as you develop your cyber security skills, opportunities will arise. The key to a successful career in cybersecurity, or any field for that matter, is simply working for it.