Future-proof your career with cybersecurity skills

The digital landscape has transformed how we communicate, transact, travel and even live our lives. While improving efficiency and quality, these developments have also led to increased security threats, data misuse and a host of other challenges. Therefore, cybersecurity has emerged as the need of the hour. A study by TeamLease Digital revealed that India’s cybersecurity market is expected to reach $3.5 billion by 2027, with an annual growth rate of 8.05 per cent.

Globally, the cybersecurity market was valued at $156.24 billion in 2020 and is expected to reach $352.25 billion by 2026. Gartner reported an upward spend of $1.7 billion globally on cybersecurity last year, a 10.7 per cent spike year-on-year. A recent study by Nasscom forecasts 1 million new jobs in cybersecurity by 2027, and that 30 per cent jobs remain unfilled due to lack of skilled talent. So, the potential opportunities in this area in immense.

To pursue a career in this sector, students require a bachelor’s degree in computer science, information technology or a related field. Advanced positions may require a master’s degree and certification courses like CISSP, CEH, CompTIA Security+ and CISM can enhance one’s qualifications and demonstrate expertise.

Interestingly, the industry is looking for professionals who are not only domain experts but also specialise in soft skills such as adaptability, communication, collaboration, leadership, out-of-the-box thinking, risk management, the ability to take risks and a willingness to constantly upgrade one’s skills, learning and knowledge.

These are some of the critical skills that are expected from a professional in this field:

Communication skills: If you are a great cybersecurity expert but are unable to communicate with your team or client, it will impact business and delivery. Therefore, developing skills such as being a good listener, explaining things in a simple but effective manner, and the ability to manage differing views and opinions are very critical for the job.

Problem solving ability: Examining an issue from various angles and finding solutions to a problem rank highly in the cybersecurity domain. A timely and quick resolution of a problem is critical to deal with any security breach.

Collaboration: The ability to manage diverse teams and create an environment where people lean on and support each other’s success and failure equally and deal with challenges together is an essential quality.

Sharp observation power: There’s a reason why top companies and tech giants like Microsoft, Facebook, Apple and others reward professionals who can identify a glitch in their offerings despite being examined by their team of cybersecurity professionals. This is because attention to minute details and loopholes can prove very costly, and plugging this gap means identifying and solving the problem and setting up security measures.

Here’s an overview of careers in this space and which roles are trending in the cybersecurity field:

Ethical hacker: They assist organisations in identifying vulnerable spots, issues and other areas which can be targeted by cyberattacks. An ethical hacker’s main responsibility is to detect security flaws in a business by mimicking cyberattacks. By doing this, they analyse the resilience of systems towards such attacks and offer suggestions for enhancement

Digital forensic expert: Just like how a forensic expert analyses a crime scene in the real world, a digital forensic expert leverages his skills to detect and understand how a system got compromised in the digital world. He examines data, digital footprints, log files and other information to investigate how a breach has happened or may happen.

Incident responder: They are the ‘first man on the job’ as soon as there is a cyber security breach. Incident responders examine security lapses, contain damage and get systems back to normal.

Security engineer: The main responsibility of this professional is to safeguard the infrastructure of a business by developing and implementing practice security solutions. They are also tasked with monitoring adherence to security guidelines creating safe systems and implementing intrusion detection and firewall technology.

Security analyst: Assessing the resilience of any organization’s security systems are the main responsibility of a security analyst. This professional is tasked with identifying weak points, and ensuring such attacks are halted.

Security consultant: This professional evaluates and analyses the security requirements of different businesses and offers professional guidance on enhancing their security posture. They create security policies, carry out risk analyses and assessments. They also direct the application of security measures which are crucial for every organisation.

The cybersecurity domain is critical for protecting a nation’s economy, infrastructure, and even protecting sensitive information and data. This is a field which is expected to spawn more employment opportunities in the future, as technology continues to expand across the globe.