Cybersecurity demand and landing your next role

Today, there are more threats than there are cyber professionals. So, businesses have had to think creatively when hiring, by looking at diverse skillsets. They’ve become more open to hiring employees with different backgrounds, extending beyond traditional university pathways or backgrounds in software engineering. Instead, they’re prioritising qualities like a desire to upskill and other transferable skills that candidates bring.

So, what is cyber security? Why should you get involved? And how?

The three pillars of cybersecurity

Cybersecurity consists of three domains: people, processes, and technologies.

1. An estimated 90 percent of cyber events are caused by humans. This ranges from genuine error to mal intent by a disgruntled employee. It’s paramount to build secure cultures by including cybersecurity in business strategy whilst educating and training employees to manage risks effectively.
2. Processes and policies are important in cybersecurity for a variety of reasons. Firstly, they document how business strategy, whether set by leadership or regulatory requirement, is delivered globally and regionally. Secondly, they ensure safe and effective ways of working. And finally, they allow for secure handling of data and information sharing amongst employees inside and outside of an organisation.
3. Technology is used to deliver processes and support people in a secure way. This means identifying, protecting, and recovering against incidents. It looks at securing networks, architecture, and endpoints (computers, servers, and mobile phones) to ensure that an organisation and third-party providers are following the latest standards. This includes having the appropriate designs, technologies, and software versions while proactively identifying and mitigating technical vulnerabilities from potential hackers.

Why should you get involved in cybersecurity?

Cybersecurity is an exciting field to work in. There are multiple reasons why you should get involved, here are some of them:

1. Purpose driven work: You’ll have a unique opportunity to help protect organisations and individuals against cyber threats and disruption
2. Flexibility: As most of the work is online, many companies offer flexible or remote working
3. Variety of work: Due to the many ways cyber affects businesses, there are a variety of roles available. Examples include data privacy, Cloud computing, and operational resilience
4. Salary and other benefits: Candidates in cybersecurity are in demand. Salary packages often reflect favourably as a result
5. Progression opportunities: Today, as most organisations are digitised, they need to build cyber security into their operating model. There are opportunities to be found across the private sector in consulting, media, financial services, manufacturing, and pharmaceuticals. Equally, there’s work in public sector organisations, from healthcare to defence.

How can you get into cybersecurity?

There are multiple ways of getting started in cybersecurity – even for those who haven’t acquired a technical skillset. Today, organisations are working to remove barriers to entry and create pathways for individuals with different backgrounds. This is achieved by providing equal opportunities from a young age. For example, through initiatives like PA’s Raspberry Pi competition which encourages under 18’s into STEM careers. There are also courses available – such as CAPS Lock – which are targeted at upskilling people who want to change careers into cybersecurity. And there are plenty of free tools and resources online – see learning platforms such as Udemy which are a great introduction to the field.