Careers in Cyber Security
In our modern world of technology and increasing dependence on digital systems, cyber security is a necessary measure to protect internet-connected devices from hacks, spammers, ransomware attacks, identity theft, data breaches, and other forms of electronic attack. It’s a vast field of study that encompasses everything from international digital weapons to the basics of how your business’s wifi works, and it takes a lot of work to keep up with its constantly changing landscape.
The importance of cybersecurity cannot be understated: cyberattacks are constant, and a single successful breach can cause financial losses and damage to a company’s reputation. For example, the 2017 Equifax breach leaked personal information for 145 million people, and the 2019 Marriott data breach affected 500 million guests. Cybersecurity measures include business continuity and incident response planning, ensuring that systems can remain online in the event of an attack.
Other measures involve prevention of attacks, such as the use of firewalls and antivirus software to detect and stop malicious code from entering a computer system. Other preventative measures include implementing secure configurations for operating systems and applications, encrypting sensitive data to make it more difficult to read if it is intercepted, and two-factor authentication to make it harder for attackers to access accounts.
The most common career path into cyber security is a bachelor’s degree in computer science, but many positions favor experience and practical skills over a formal education. For those looking for an alternative to a university degree, full-time cybersecurity bootcamps offer immersive training programs that last up to 20 weeks. SOCaaS