A Complete Guide on How to Become a Cyber Security Expert

Definition of Cyber Security as a Discipline:

It is a discipline that deals with the security of electronic gadgets connected through the internet like networks, computers, mobile devices, and software within those systems from any kind of malicious software. It is also considered Electronic Information Security. The professional of this discipline is protecting all the gadgets safely connected to the internet.  Cyber Security Experts are supposed to look for any weakness in the system, software, or electronic device from outside. They protect the overall system from intrusion through the internet.

You learn various methods, techniques or develop strategies based on the solid knowledge ground to protect the system. The professional from this discipline also provides inputs in the development of software, to make the software protected from possible threats. Expert is constantly monitoring the overall system for any possible intruders attack. The development of new protocols and security systems based on the threat intensity and level is also the task of professionals.

The main topics of this discipline may be mobile device protection from online viruses, warms, or hacking threats, developing and maintaining the privacy of the individual users, counteracting against any data breach, ensuring safe computing, online scams, etc.

Brief History of the Discipline:

An Army General SUN Tzu Wu in China, about 20 years ago has written in his book “The Art of War” about vulnerabilities. His book is about series of engagements with the enemy. He says, “One who knows the enemy and knows himself will not be in danger in 100 battles, One who does not know the enemy but knows himself, will sometimes win sometimes lost, and one who does not know the enemy and does not know himself, will be in danger in every battle” The world of internet is full of good guys and bad guys too. Your information is at risk all the time until and unless you know your vulnerabilities and the possible threats.

In the complex world of the internet and online digitized space, one has to know what has to be protected and why should it be protected. Most importantly how should it be protected?

The history of this discipline started as Computer Security during the Second World War. By then Computer was only used to break certain codes. The computer was not a well-known machine.

At that time the sole purpose was to be concerned only about physical security. May the keys were to be in control of certain individuals, the computer batches had to have access by certain people and not others. Similarly, physical theft of equipment itself was to be avoided by safeguarding the systems through human security guards.

During the cold war computer kept on improving and this device was then used for more complex operations by the military. Communication also became one of the tasks of computers at that time.

The concept of the network was introduced by the Advanced Research Project Agency or ARPANET. In 1973 the fundamental problem in the security of such internet systems was identified. At that time there was no user-based authentication system to protect unauthorized access from a remote location.

Hackers had an easy way to intrude into ARPANET. With the massive networks on the format of ARPANET, computer networks were found to have more threats and network security was renamed as Network insecurity. At the start of the 21st century with the introduction of TCP, IP protocol, networks became more common specifically after 1990 and afterward, and more need to secure the internet was felt.

With more commercialization of the internet, almost every corner of the globe got connected with each other. With each step of rising in the use of the internet and online systems, more threats became visible to the online systems. The informal ways to protect and make the internet more secure were not enough to safeguard data and unwanted intrusion.

In the recent past, more realization was felt to make the system more secure by various techniques. The field was introduced as a discipline and called Cyber Security.

While in the last few years due to an economic situation many disciplines and individuals lost their jobs. But the requirements of the job of this discipline are very high and are expected to rise in the future also.

Who is considered as Cyber Security Specialist?

Individual who is called as Expert will have many responsibilities. He or She will be trained to train others on how to secure the system. The Expert will be a person who has a vigilant eye on the internal as well as external threats to the system. Such professional will train his/her organization teammates on what steps to pursue to completely safeguard the system from possible threats.

An Expert will do one or all of the following depending on the situation.

Steps to Become a Cyber Security Specialist:

Education to become Cyber Security Expert:

One can become a Cyber Security Expert or Specialist by earning a bachelor’s degree in any of Computer Science related fields. This field demands you to face challenges, to have work hours that may extend beyond routine duty timings.

The discipline also requires the professional to work under pressure sometimes.

Besides qualification, you need to have at least two years of experience with the functional aspect of the discipline. The functionality may be to deal with firewalls, malware, or any form of viral attack.

You need to have a certain level of proficiency in computer coding and languages like Java, C++, Python, and some experience to work with power shells.

Experience and Practical Training Certificates:

To become an expert, one needs to have certain experience in the industry. You can network with companies and groups working in this field, and get hands-on experience to be proficient in the skills.

Industry certifications like Network⁺, Security^+, etc. are helpful. There are various certifications. Some of them may cover the architectural view of the networks and systems, some other may be about the assessment of threats and their possible loss, and some courses may include contents from the network point of view.

1.  Henry Harvin Academy of Cyber Security: Certificate of Cyber Security Expert or Professional:

In the following paragraphs, you will come across some of the amazing courses related to this discipline. These courses will provide you with in-depth knowledge as well as hands-on experience to broaden your horizon of the underlying discipline.

Among them, the top one is the course offered by Henry Harvin India.

Other Courses of Cyber Security are mentioned below:

Job Description of a Specialist:

The job description depends on the complexity and nature of the organization. Some organizations may require the expert to train the professionals working. Some other organizations may have a dedicated job for you, where you will be expected to have a desk job and look for any possible system vulnerabilities. If I’ve to give a one-line description for the Professional in this area, that would be to protect data online from theft or damage. The title of the job also differs based on the nature of the organization. Some of the most common titles for the professionals may be Security Specialist, Data Analyst, Security Administrator, System Security Consultant, Source Code Auditor, etc.

Some of the most common job responsibilities of a Professional are mentioned below:

Quality assurance techniques and knowledge and their application.

Who Provides Jobs in this field ?

The list of the employer’s list may be longer but a few of the organizations who offer jobs of Experts are of the following nature:

Main Skills to Become Cyber Security Specialist:

Following are the main skills required to become Professional

Where to find Jobs of Specialists:

According to an article published by the University of San Diego, In United States simply more than 200,000 jobs in this field to be filled by Professionals.

That means jobs are there and are expected to be more. These jobs are advertised in job portals. Some jobs may be to work remotely.

One can search for such jobs in security organizations, government institutions, research organizations, financial institutions. LinkedIn is also helpful.

Freelance markets places like upwork.com, freelancer.com, etc. also have job openings by various titles. The titles may be Security Analyst, Application Security Jobs, Security and Risk Analysis, Security Engineer, etc.

Expert Salary Estimation:

According to various recruiters, there is a wide variety of salary ranges for Experts throughout the world. Some of the job recruiters like ziprecruiter.com $ 107,33 per year in the United States of America, Glassdoor estimates the salary for the same position as $76,620 per year. Indeed.com states that a Professional salary estimate is $113,438 per year in the US.

Importance of Internship in the field of Cyber Security:

Jobs of this discipline are in high demand and highly paid. The skills, platforms, tools, and techniques are rapidly changing. Therefore not only the certification and courses are important, but also an internship in the field is very helpful for the new aspirants of this discipline. As skills are involved in this field, therefore internship would not only provide you to learn hands-on skills but an opportunity to network yourself with the associated community and easily search for jobs.

Tips to Find Job Easily:

Job Levels in the career of Cyber Security Expert Field:

Like all other disciplines, the jobs may be divided into three levels:

Entry level Cyber Security Position:

At the entry-level, you will be a junior security tester, information analysis assistant, Security Technician. Cyber Security Analyst or investigator, IT Auditor.

Mid-Level Cyber Security Expert Position:

With experience of more than 3 years in the industry, you can apply for a mid-level position.

The positions in this level may be those of consultants, Analysts or senior IT Auditors,s or Investigators.

Advance Level:

Once having enough experience in the position at the middle level, you’re eligible to apply for a senior management position. Your job title at the senior level may be Cyber Security Expert.
Engineer, Cybersecurity Architect or manager, and administrator. At the advanced level, your job description mainly involves managing the team, strategize for any unexpected situation prior to its occurrence, and train the personnel within an organization.

Conclusion:

Due to the expansion of the internet to each and every corner of the world, cybercrimes have also exponentially increased. The financial transaction has also become online to a greater extent. Therefore there is a greater need for systems, tools, and techniques to be in place to ensure the security of online data.
Most of the communication between governments, agencies of intelligence, and businesses are taking place through online medium, therefore people are becoming more and more concerned to protect the confidentiality and integrity of data.
This discipline comparatively an emerging field seems to have a greater place on the job market in the future.
The aspirants have a lot of chances to find jobs that are highly paid in the future.

There are different ways to get certified and trained. Mostly an academy having the opportunity of the internship should be preferred. With internship support, networking is equally important.

Therefore one should choose an academy to have all the things in one place and explore the interesting field which is rewarding and challenging at the same time.

To learn more about Cyber Security, you can read it. You can watch it too.

Though Cyber Security is a subset of Computer Science, it has its own degree in it too.

Yes, there are a lot of such opportunities to work remotely as an Expert in the field of Cyber Security.

The future is all about online financial and data transactions. With massive digitization, the risk of stealing the data also increases, therefore the career prospects of Cyber Security are brighter too.

Cyber Security professionals usually work in Government agencies, Intelligence agencies, Networking companies, etc.

Some of the career paths in the field of Cyber Security are Security Architect, Security Consultant, Penetration Tester, Ethical Hacker, etc.