A Complete Guide on How to Become a Cyber Security Expert

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.

• Securing Application
• Threats Management
• Responding any possible threat
• Provide firewall to prevent data loss
• Establishing security mechanism
• Training employees to adopt methods to avoid threats
• Running software or programs to maintain system security.
• Expert is also responsible for maintaining the overall integrity, confidentiality and safety of data.
• Professional in this discipline is also dealing to maintain recovery policies in the wake of any threat or possible attack. Such activities may involve:
• Provide backup mechanism for data in case of any loss
• Information assurance mechanism
• Providing support to intelligence or government agencies to recover any loss of data.

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.

• Henry Harvin offers 16 online sessions of Cyber Security Course which are highly interactive and engaging.
• You will be examined after the completion of your training.
• The trainers have a certifications which are from famous international certification agencies or academies. Most of the trainers have more than 20 years of experience at Henry Harvin.
• Henry Harvin Education Academy- is a network and treasure for the updated knowledge of many discipline which are industry-driven and demand oriented.
• The course offered by Henry Harvin Academy is titled as “Cyber Security Professional Course”. Unique features of the course are mentioned below:
• You will become a certified professional from one of the top academy in the field. The instructor’s knowledge and experience at the Henry Harvin is updated, therefore you will become proficient in current trends. Once you enroll in the academy, you join a huge network of professional, therefore besides certification, you have the opportunity to find job avenues in the future easily.
• You can learn from many professional besides your instructor.
• With Henry Harvin you get brush up sessions afterwards.
• You get live projects to work on, weekly brush-up sessions, access to unlimited recorded video sessions, and career support with Henry Harvin.
• Henry Harvin provide you 24/7 support and assistance. The trainers are highly experienced in their areas.
• With one registration you can access multiple sessions conducted by different instructors.
• Henry Harvin has an amazing feature to notify you of any job opening.
• With a strong alumni system you become part of a bigger network which provide you support not only during your training but also post-training support is a part and parcel of Henry Harvin Education Academy.
• You will be certified with Certified Professional title and can showcase your certification with your name to earn the trust of the employers.
• Henry Harvin Academy has a worldwide recognition. The academy is the winner of corporate training award of game based learning of the year.
• The academy has also been attached and affiliated with American association EFL, Ministry of Corporate Affairs MSME, UKAF, UKCert, Project Management Institute and ISO certification.
• Once enrolled you will immediately get an access to countless learning materials through lms.
• You will be notified about Monthly and Weekly brush-up sessions and boot camps sessions.

Other Courses of Cyber Security are mentioned below:

•    The Complete Cyber Security Course
•    Emtrain- Ethics & Compliance
•     The Absolute Beginner to Cyber Security Part

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:

• Ensuring Security and weak areas during the developmental phase of software development and system configuration
• Assessing Hardware and Software for vulnerabilities
• Designing and developing a firewall to protect a network of computers
• If any intrusion is identified, finding of the solution in the least possible time and initiating security mechanism to avoid data loss
• Securing the IT System of the organization in the best possible manner
• Strategizing different methods to be prepared to cope with newly emerged viruses, attacks, hackers and malware.
• Constant Monitoring of Data centers
• Training the employees how to work with care to be secure in online community
• Training the employees regarding the identification of threats and afterwards measures to be taken.
• Ability to perform testing, evaluation, and devising plans
• Analysis of data and assessing it for vulnerability
• Examination of security related technologies and tools
• Taking into consideration the network overall behavior, traffic and internet connectivity
• Constantly updating security protocols according to the standard
• Security architecture review of the clients
• Defining security standards according to the complexity of the workstation. For example there may be difference to strategize the security of a main workstation than a server. An individual user’s pc may have different requirements than a network.

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:

• Government Agencies, Military Organizations
• Intelligence Agencies
• Network Providers
• Consultancy firms who provide services to other organizations may give you job
• Academia and Universities
• Financial Institutions and organizations.

Main Skills to Become Cyber Security Specialist:

Following are the main skills required to become Professional

• Attention to minute detail in changes occurred in an online system. Being a As an Expert you need to have a vigilant mind-set. Your system will be under threat 24/7, and the same would be the requirement to be alert for any possible threat. Cybercrimes and its nature is a rapidly changing phenomenon. Therefore the professional need to be vigilant and proactive.
• Ability to work in a stress is another skill that a professional needs to have. Sometime the threat may arise at a time where you will be off-duty, but still you need to pay attention.
• Be able to comprehend details easily in less time
• Sharp Technical Aptitude and hands-on skills to work with online system. Professional in this field must be analytical, having curiosity to know and play with new tools.
• Strong Communication and Presentation skills
• Knowledge of various platform
• Passion to learn more and keep the knowledge repository up to date.
• Enjoying new things
• Strong analytical and problem solving skills
• Understanding hacker’s mind-set and proactively engaging to respond to hackers’ acts.
• Knowledge and understanding of the right tools and systems to be installed.
• Computer Forensic Skills and Techniques

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:

• Be updated about new developments in the field
• Join a dynamic community and network yourself with them for the latest knowledge and job openings information
• Communicate intelligently with the employers
• Ask smart questions
• Demonstrate Present and document your experience and training in a smart way.
• Most importantly use the language of the discipline. Learn the norms and terminologies in trend.

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.