Today, companies are investing more money into IT security than ever before and this trend shows no sign of slowing down. But, this shouldn’t come as a shock given how sophisticated modern hackers have become and how much becomes at stake for a company, should it be compromised.
IT security is an always evolving science and isn’t something that companies can half-heartedly allocate resources to. So, with that in mind, it’s important to remember that while an advertisement for an IT position may not explicitly require security skills, they are still very much sought after.
Get to know the industry-leading cyber security tools
There is a huge range of potential security tools out there that you may need to utilise during different events. Many security tools offer unique solutions to security, such as security information and event management (SIEM) tools. In essence, they allow you to look at your entire network as an expanse while also focusing in on the smallest of details. Knowing how to use SIEM tools (or any other for that matter) to its full extent is vital and will allow you to uncover security issues that will really make a positive difference to your company.
In addition to this, cyber security jobs generally demand a strong understanding of IT fundamentals, including web applications, system administration, coding, architecture, and operating systems.
Understand the importance of cyber security analysis
Knowing how to use the security tools at your disposal is vital, but it’s only going to take you so far without understanding security analysis too. Not every tool is right for every business and this is where the analytical side of security can make a big difference.
Analysts need to take a wide range of factors into account in order to develop robust company security policies, such as how a business really works and what are its unique features, markets, customers and so on.
Once these various factors are evaluated, it’s then possible to identify where cyber-attacks are more likely to strike and reduce the susceptible areas that hackers have to attack.
Develop your soft skills
Cybersecurity isn’t for everyone, but that doesn’t mean you can’t improve your soft skills. You’re going to need to focus in on the finer details during your work as a cybersecurity expert and be able to dive into the most technical issues with confidence. Work on developing your problem solving and analytical skills as these will assist you when dealing with the majority of problems you’ll face.
However, it’s vital that you don’t underestimate the value of your teamwork and communication skills while working in a cyber security job. You’ll often need to breakdown complicated subject matter into easy-to-understand terms for your colleagues and customers.
Expand your industry knowledge
Your hard and soft skills are going to be the basis for your expertise, but you’ll find a limit to your abilities without the experience and knowledge to complement them.
Cybersecurity experts have to stay as current as possible with the latest trends in the industry. This isn’t an exaggeration either as new vulnerabilities are discovered every day by hackers and security researchers alike. So, patching these vulnerabilities will often seem like a race against time.
But, there’s more to take into consideration than just this. Contemporary security standards change all the time and you’ll need to stay abreast of the latest industry best practices and procedures.
Improve your project management expertise
While cyber security skills are becoming more and more valuable to companies, IT security project management leads as an extremely specialised and in-demand role.
Security projects now take weeks or months to establish as there is a huge amount of planning and development to deal with. A cybersecurity project manager is going to have to develop a plan to integrate new security measures with existing systems and create a training, upgrade and maintenance programmes to go along with it.
Do you still have questions on what is cybersecurity or would you like to speak with an expert about protecting your business from online attacks? To find out more, simply contact Saxons today.
