The rapid increase in the use of the internet has led to a more continued increase in the number of cyber-attacks which has led to significant demand for well-qualified cybersecurity and IT risk professionals all around the world. In the short to medium term, demand will outpace supply and organizations will be looking for more professionals to hire in this field.
The increase in the demand for cybersecurity personnel’s coupled with high salaries and the various opportunities in different fields it brings along, it has surely become a career path to consider in today’s time. Following are a few career pathways you can pursue as cybersecurity personnel.
1) Security Software Developer
A security software developer is someone who develops security software as well as integrates security into software during the course of design and development. A security software developer is an individual who is responsible for analyzing software implementations and designs so as to identify and resolve any security issues that might exist. In order to make this happen, a security software developer incorporates the appropriate security analysis during each part of the software creation cycle. Their main purpose is to create and maintain the security of the organization for which they work.
2) Security Architect Career Path
A security architect is a senior-level employee who is responsible for designing, building and maintaining the security structures for an organization's computer system. A security architect is responsible for designing security structures to thwart malware and hacker intrusions to an organization's computer system. Once these structures are in place, the security architect will test for any weaknesses and audit the entire system. To fully test the system, an outside ethical hacker may need to be brought in to run a thorough penetration test in order to ensure that the system is secure from outside attacks.
3) Security Consultant
The role of the cybersecurity or IT security consultant is very crucial to every organization, whether government or private, for helping to prevent these security threats.IT security consultants assess software, computer systems, and networks for vulnerabilities, then design and implement the best security solutions for an organization’s needs. They play the role of both the attacker and the victim and are asked to locate and potentially exploit vulnerabilities. Some IT security consultants are former hackers who have decided to enter the profession after seeing first-hand how vulnerable companies are to security threats.
4) Ethical Hackers
The purpose of ethical hacking is to look at the security of a system or network's infrastructure. An ethical hacker will attempt to bypass system security, and find and expose any weak points that could be taken advantage of by a malicious hacker. Vulnerabilities are typically found in improper system configuration and in hardware or software flaws.
An ethical hacker is required to research, document and discuss their methods and security findings with management and IT teams. This intelligence is then used by businesses and organizations to improve their system security so as to minimize or eliminate any potential attacks. Ethical hackers will also provide feedback and verification as an organization fixes security issues.
5) Penetration Tester
Penetration testing is the proactive authorized employment of testing procedures on the IT system to identify system flaws. A penetration tester usually attempts to (with permission) hack into a computer and network systems to pre-emptively discover operating system vulnerabilities, service and application problems, improper configurations and more before an intruder cause real damage. Penetration testers must be highly skilled, often using testing tools of their own design, to “break into” the systems under watch. Penetration testers are required to keep accurate records of their activities and discovered vulnerabilities.
6) Computer forensic analysts
The field of computer forensics is information security branch of law enforcement and is closely related to forensic science and criminal justice work; therefore, most computer forensic analysts work for law enforcement agencies. The role of the analyst is to recover data like documents, photos, and e-mails from computer hard drives and other data storage devices, such as zip and flash drives, that have been deleted, damaged or otherwise manipulated. Analysts often work on cases involving offenses committed on the Internet ('cybercrime') and examine computers that may have been involved in other types of crime in order to find evidence of illegal activity. As an information security professional, a computer forensic analyst may also use their expertise in a corporate setting to protect computers from infiltration, determine how a computer was broken into or recover lost files.
The field of cybersecurity has a lot of career choices to choose from, however its necessary that you first find out which field interests you the most. A rewarding and exciting industry, excellent career progression, rising salaries, and continued growth are only some of the many benefits that a career in cybersecurity has to offer. If there ever was a time to enter the cyber security field, it’s now.
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