If you hold practical knowledge in solving complex computer-related problems and are a good communicator, then the field of cybersecurity may be right for you. But those skills alone won’t cut it. It’s essential to find a career path in cybersecurity that you want to pursue, put in the required education that supports your skills and complete a practical cybersecurity certification.
What is a Cybersecurity Expert?
A cybersecurity expert is a professional who has extensive knowledge regarding various computing matters and acts as an expert in protecting or securing information. Many organizations from around the world hire these professionals to secure their network and store information so it doesn’t become vulnerable to cybercriminals.
The following is a brief guide that explains how to become a cybersecurity expert:
Research the Profession
This is the initial step for anyone who wants to become a cybersecurity professional. Researching the cybersecurity profession involves the following steps:
- Job Description
Job description means the explanation of the kind of job or career you want to attain. For example, do you want to join the networking field or design security-related infrastructure for organizations? A job description helps you decide which area is of interest to you. For instance, ethical hackers design procedures that launch a controlled attack on the security interface of an organization to reveal the existing vulnerabilities. This results in finding potential ways to end those vulnerabilities. Cybersecurity analysts, however, interpret data and other statistics to provide forecasts and help in crucial decision making that determines the future of the organization.
It’s important to find out what type of cybersecurity professional you want to become, as there are many different professions in cybersecurity.
- Role and Responsibility of a Cybersecurity Expert
A cybersecurity expert will include the following list of professional responsibilities:
- Working with other cybersecurity employees to implement an insightful and detail-oriented security system that will guard the interests of the organization.
- Finding out vulnerabilities and determining the root cause for why they exist and opting to eradicate them permanently
- Building the firewalls to secure the overall network infrastructure
- Eliminating vulnerabilities and scanning them on a consistent basis over your networking channels
- Skills and Qualities
- Strong skills in base IT, knowledge of hardware and software
- Creativity and patience to deal with persistent problems
- A mindset bent on collaboration and collecting insight from other teams for deploying a better and revised security infrastructure
- Understanding how a hacker thinks and consistently working on the scanning programs to identify and differentiate vulnerabilities, and then eradicating them
- Effective communication skills for participating in team-related challenges
- Job and Average Salary
The salary varies depending on the cybersecurity position. The salary is higher for positions with more responsibility. For example, a cybersecurity analyst’s salary is $75,000 annually on average. On the other hand, an entry-level cybersecurity analyst’s salary is about $35,000 yearly, which will increase to a promising figure once you get settled and start gaining experience.
Tips to Start Your Career as a Cybersecurity Expert
Earn the Required Qualifications
It is important to earn the required qualifications after you have settled on a profession regarding cybersecurity. A degree or qualification can validate the professional skills you have as a cybersecurity professional. This way you can head for various certifications that will provide you with a stepping stone to begin your career. But before you can do that you must have the necessary education.
Landing Your First Job
Cybersecurity professionals are extremely sought after. However, it is also important that you attain the necessary requirements for the position. You must practice extreme patience and creativity that sparks something inside you, and that something may be riveting and brings out the best in you. This persistence and creative drive could help you achieve your dream job as a cybersecurity professional.
Attaining a cybersecurity certification is also necessary, as it will help you build your professional career and seek out a variety of positions that require a professional with a highly dedicated skillset regarding cybersecurity.