From waking up at dawn to the moment we fall asleep, our gadgets track our activities, keep us entertained and informed, help us order food, groceries, and household supplies, and help us find directions. Apart from our personal lives, even the day-to-day activities of organizations, including employee details, financial records, and asset information, are handled and overseen by computers and software systems. However, these cyber systems that encapsulate our lives are not as safe as we once thought they were.
Off late, there has been a dramatic increase in the rise of security breaches in network systems and cyber systems of even powerful government organizations. Hence, there has been a huge increase in the demand for cybersecurity experts around the world. But many do not yet know how to enter this interesting and rewarding field due to a lack of awareness and resources to learn about it.
Here, we will lay down the most effective steps to become a Cyber Security Expert and follow your dream career.
Roles and responsibilities of a cybersecurity expert
The following are the important responsibilities typically handled by a cybersecurity expert
- Access management systems and set as well as implement user access controls and identity
- Monitoring the performance of network and applications to identify any irregular activity
- Performing regular audits to make sure that security practices are compliant
- Deployment of endpoint detection and prevention tools to counter malicious hacks
- Setting up patch management systems for automatic update of applications
- Implementing comprehensive vulnerability management systems that could cater to all assets on-premises and in the cloud
- Working with IT operations in setting up a plan for shared disaster recovery/business continuity
- Working with HR and/or team leads to build awareness among employees on identifying suspicious activity
Top skills to become a cybersecurity expert in 2023
Below, we have listed the top list of skills required to become a Cyber security expert in 2022
1. Coding
You must be proficient in at least one programming language and have a fundamental understanding of one extra language to develop a good foundation in cybersecurity. The most popular languages commonly used by cyber security experts are C, C++, Python, PHP, HTML, JavaScript, and SQL.
2. Networking and system administration
To thrive in a Cybersecurity career, you must be well aware of the various aspects of data transmission that are important to secure the data. Generally, aspiring cybersecurity aspirants take up certifications like CompTIA Security+, CEH (v1), CISSP, etc., to boost their cybersecurity careers.
3. Knowledge of operating systems and virtual machines
A good understanding of the Kali Linux operating system (commonly used for ethical hacking), and a decent grasp of operating environments such as Linux, Windows, Mac OS, etc., are considered essential for a cyber security expert.
4. Network security control
A cybersecurity professional must know how various networks, firewalls, routers, and other devices work to implement Network security control measures in the organization. Additionally, setting up and modifying Intrusion prevention systems, virtual private networks (VPNs), Intrusion detection systems, etc., are among the responsibilities of a cyber security expert.
5. Cloud security
Cyber experts are also expected to implement policies and technologies that will protect the organization’s cloud-based devices and systems, such as AWS, Azure, or Google Cloud platforms.
6. Artificial intelligence (AI)
Artificial intelligence is making inroads into almost every major sector. However, there are genuine concerns regarding the safety of AI. So, a network security expert must have some basic knowledge of AI.
7. Blockchain security
Blockchain is a hard target for hackers to destroy or modify as it is a distributed ledger with data stored across multiple devices makes, and hence it has huge potential in network control, supply chain management, identity control, mobile management, Internet-of-Things (IoT), etc. So, blockchain knowledge is a huge asset for a cybersecurity expert.
8. The Internet of Things (IoT)
IoT technology will reach every home within a few more years. However, IoT also brings risks of data theft and identity theft. Hence, cybersecurity experts should possess the technical knowledge to safeguard IoT devices.
Some more Skills required to be a Cyber Security Expert
These added skills can help one ease into the cybersecurity field:
- Information security: Skills to protect the electronic data of organizations from unauthorized access and data breaches.
- Risk analysis: Ability to identify, manage and mitigate all cyber risks/threats.
- Security incident handling and response: Handling threats related to violations of an organization’s security policy and data norms.
- Security audit: A periodic internal check is carried out to detect any flaws in the company’s information system and networks.
- Cyber laws and regulations: Cybersecurity laws define how one can use the internet. A Cybersecurity professional must be well-versed in these laws.
The best course to become a cybersecurity expert
Join the world’s most in-demand group of cybersecurity professionals by taking up Simplilearn’s Cyber Security Expert Master’s program. In this program, ranked number #1 in the world by Career Karma, you will learn comprehensive approaches for protecting the organization’s infrastructure, securing data and information, architecting cloud-based security, running risk analysis and mitigation, achieving compliance, etc. So, without much further ado, click on the link given at the beginning of the page and start your cybersecurity journey today.
Photo credit: The feature image is symbolic and has been done by Gorodenkoff.
