Cyber Security is a career that comprises of many smaller roles. Unlike an IT Support Technician or Server technician, who primarily focuses on 1 or 2 areas in their field, Cybersecurity has a wide range of areas to work in.
What areas are there in Cyber Security?
These are some of the general positions you will find within the Cyber Security industry:
• Chief Information Security Officer
• Security Architect, IT
• Security Manager, IT
• Security Assessor
• Security Engineer
• Information Security Consultant
• Security Director
• Penetration Tester
• Incident Manager
• Information Security Specialist
Each of these roles have different expectations and responsibilities. For example, the CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) will not be focusing his time on setting up hardware on a network. That will be the job of Security Specialist, Network Specialist or even a security consultant. The CSIO will focus on making sure that the security is at the required level and present to a board of directors on any changes and improvements that will be needed.
What will I do as an entry-level Cyber Security Specialist?
According to CompTIA, there are various entry level roles someone qualified in Cyber Security can apply for. Below are some examples:
• IT Support Analyst with entry level Cyber Security
• Information Assurance Technician/Specialist (and Other Military-related Roles)
• Security Analyst
• Cybersecurity Engineer
Each of these roles have one thing in common. They all require the skills learnt from the CompTIA Security+ course.
Here is a breakdown of each role:
A security administrator position is generally considered the entry point on the cybersecurity ladder but it doesn’t mean it’s non-technical. At this level you will be expected to manage security solutions, do basic network monitoring, make sure patches get rolled out and doing all the other ground-level security work in an office. Yes, this also sounds like something a Support technician would do, but this level of security will be done at the Server and Network level. This is a position where The CompTIA Security+ sets you up to succeed in.
The next step up in the enterprise hierarchy is usually a specialist. A specialist is identical to a manager in a company. This role is a step up in responsibility, generally requiring delegating responsibility to a team while taking on higher-level management of tech tools, and offering more advice in and outside of the IT department.
Yes, even the Military needs IT people. In the military, cybersecurity is a top priority role, but job titles are different from what you might see in the civilian world. And no, just because you work within the military as a security specialist, it doesn’t always mean that you will have to do military training. Different tiers of Information Assurance Technician jobs require specific certifications to meet the Department of Défense’s criteria to work on secure networks.
In lower-level roles, the CompTIA Security+ course is a must. When you start climbing the ranks, you will need the CompTIA Cyber Security Analyst+ course also known as CySA+ . Even in the corporate world, if you find yourself working as a consultant on a military contract, where you might be given clearance to touch networks that are declared “Classified”, it can make it a non-negotiable necessity to have these security certs on your resume.
Since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, and many companies worldwide having to move their businesses into a cloud format, the sheer volume of cybersecurity threats have been proliferating on the enterprise landscape. As a result, this has been taxing the bandwidth of IT professionals and companies. This has led to the advent of new, higher-level network monitoring and analytics tools, which are extremely critical to determining how a network could be compromised. These tools also assist in determining how to respond to the threat.
Security analysts are the people who can manage these SEIM tools, threat intelligence platforms and other such tools. They have a clear understanding of the complicated log files that get generated and put these files into context to inform action or even people. Between 2019 and now, this role has become one of the most important roles in the IT industry. This is why CompTIA offer the Cyber Security Analyst+ (CySA+). This cyber security course is designed to set the benchmark for what someone in this role needs to know and why this cyber security course is included in our Cyber Security Practical Experience Programme.
Over the years, Cybersecurity threats have grown, and evolved, in numbers. In order to keep a company safe and secured, businesses need people who have a clear understanding of what’s happening on networks, servers and databases. This will need to happen at the most sophisticated levels and these individuals will be securing every facet accordingly. This is the role of a Cybersecurity engineer/architect.
(Information sourced from CompTIA)
So, as we can see, there are several entry points into the Cybersecurity career path, with many different certifications that are needed and can be attained. But the beauty is that when you start on one path, it doesn’t mean that you must stay on that path. And each role can be interchanged, or even combined.
What will my job description and responsibilities be?
This is a very hard question to pinpoint exactly. As we said, Cybersecurity has many different roles. And each role has different tasks associated to it. But there are a few tasks that each role has in common. As per the monster.com website Here are some of the job requirements for anyone entering the Cybersecurity field:
• Safeguard information system assets by identifying and solving potential and actual security problems.
• Protect the system by defining access privileges, control structures, and resources.
• Recognise problems by identifying abnormalities; reporting violations.
• Implement security improvements by assessing current situation; evaluating trends; anticipating requirements.
• Determine security violations and inefficiencies by conducting periodic audits.
• Upgrade systems by implementing and maintaining security controls.
• Keep users informed by preparing performance reports; communicating system status.
• Maintain quality service by following organization standards.
• Maintain technical knowledge by attending educational workshops; reviewing publications.
• Contribute to team effort by accomplishing related results as needed.
These responsibilities will stem down from the CIO all the way to the junior person in the company.
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