Cyber Security
Cyber security skills are in high demand, with a drastic rise in cyber-attacks over the last few years. According to Cyberseek.org, there were more than 500,000 open jobs in cybersecurity between April and March 2021. Mallory Careers rates Cyber Security Specialist as one of the top 22 careers related to information technology.
The shortage of cyber-talent is real, which offers a fantastic opportunity for skilled candidates to fill in one of the thousand job openings. In this skills list, we’ve identified the top cyber security skills you’ll need in 2022 to launch your career. Let’s dive in!
IT and Networking
Technical skills are a must for cybersecurity professionals to protect cyber assets from attacks. For example, understanding basic programming languages such as PHP, Java, or C is necessary to identify system threats and develop solid counter-plans. In addition, system administration and networking skills, as well as knowing how to adopt security controls, are vital. Finally, knowing how to implement, troubleshoot, and maintain security systems is central to cybersecurity.
Ethical Hacking
If you’re going to work in the cybersecurity space, understanding the basic principles of ethical hacking is a must. Hacking helps you approach cyber threats from the attacker’s perspective and develop effective solutions to resolve a problem. To beat a hacker, you have to be a hacker, just an ethical one! White-hat hacking introduces you to the tools and techniques to defend against future cyber-attacks, as well as the legal part of penetration and testing.
Cloud Security
As more and more businesses move their data to the cloud, the need for cloud-savvy professionals is increasing. For example, software as a service (SaaS) or infrastructure as a service (IaaS) organizations use cloud-based services for their operations. Here’s where cloud security comes in handy with deploying, configuring, and managing a virtual environment.
Artificial Intelligence (AI)
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence is an important cyber security skill, as it helps professionals understand how the cyber environment works and identify possible threats. Additionally, AI can provide automated solutions and offer support in case of cyber-attacks. Security experts have additional resources to resolve a problem and defend valuable data from attackers thanks to AI.
Blockchain Security
One of the top levels of cybersecurity is blockchain security. It’s been evolving rapidly over the last few years. In order for cyber-attackers to destroy or corrupt data, they need to attack a whole blockchain system. This means destroying every user’s computer data in the global network. As a result, the blockchain’s complexity indicates lower risks of attack and, therefore, cybersecurity professionals need to be familiar with it.
Analytical Skills
Security experts need to be able to foresee, prevent, detect, and respond to cyber-attacks. To do that, they need to be equipped with technical, analytical skills and proficiency in using the right security tools. According to Lerna Australia, cybersecurity analytics “involves the collection and analysis of data such as user data, event logs and firewall interactions.” By highlighting patterns and anomalies, analytics helps with identifying, understanding and preventing or responding to intrusions.
Problem-solving
The cyber security skills we’ve listed so far are more focused on hard skills. However, there are also a lot of soft skills that go into cybersecurity as well. The most important one is problem-solving. Cybersecurity professionals are constantly called to develop innovative solutions by using their creativity while complying with protocols and frameworks.
