Jobs Are Plentiful in Cybersecurity

Cybersecurity is one of the booming employment fields and there's no reason to believe that won't continue, perhaps get even better. Download the entire infographic from StaySafeOnline to get all the detail. 

I've already given some important advice on this topic:

1. Test your interest in and aptitude for the cybersecurity profession by taking a MOOC.
2. Consider one of the many certification programs available in cybersecurity. I suggest you think seriously before enrolling in a for-profit certification program. I'm sure some of them are good, but there are too many instances of for-profits not living up to their promises. Here is a link with 30 of the best programs. Notice two things:
1. It mixes degree and certificate programs. Be clear about what you're looking for.
2. It doesn't take long for the for-profits to begin to show up in listings. Do your research! Make sure you're going to get what you pay for!

Far be it from a retired college professor to recommend against a college degree, though! If you are currently a student, think about a major in some aspect of cybersecurity. If you are changing jobs, think about a certification to get you in the door. Then you can profit from the advice I used to give all my students--now see if your employer will pay for your next certification or degree!

Stay Safe!

Related Updates
Teaching cybersecurity in the college classroom 
Shortage of cybersecurity personnel 2019
 

Importance of Employee CyberSecurity Training

The Society for Human Resources Management is on the cybersecurity bandwagon also. It has recommendations for business training of employees. One through 3 apply to all businesses, regardless of size.

1. Show everyone how to spot scams, especially phishing in all its variants. Top execs, including the CEO are important in this effort, because they are privy to sensitive business information.
2. Train employees consistently.
3. Use multi-factor authentication wherever possible. 

Only firms with resources and expertise should consider

      4. Penetration testing. This is hiring skilled hackers to try to penetrate the business system. It's a    demanding process and a lot can go wrong. SMBs may be better off hiring a security firm to work with them on identified risks.

Consider the importance of employee training: "Every time a company trains, its risk of falling prey to a successful phishing attack decreases by 20 percent, according to Sharon Nelson, attorney and president of cybersecurity firm Sensei Enterprises Inc. in Fairfax, Va."

TechRepublic says, "People are the largest security vulnerability in any organization." Keeping them engaged in cybersecurity protection, however, is no small task. The post offers suggestions for keeping the subject vibrant. 

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How Small Businesses Can Improve Cybersecurity

 Small and medium-sized businesses have as much to loose, maybe more, from gaps in their cyber defenses, as this chart in a report from the Better Business Bureaus shows. Forbes says that "approximately half of small businesses that have a cyber attack go out of business within six months."

https://go.bbb.org/2P18YP9

The dark blue bar in the chart is BBB Accredited Businesses and they identified themselves as being higher on overall adoption of cybersecurity measures than others.The upper left quadrant of the chart shows that two methods with high effectiveness are under-adopted--safer data storage and multi-factor identification.

The Forbes article goes on to make good recommendations:

1. Establish a cybersecurity policy and train employees in use of its elements
2. Update computers including employee mobile devices
3. Create backups for important data
4. Limit employee access to data
5. Secure the business WiFi network

Small business owners have a lot to do, but they should not ignore the importance of good cybersecurity. It's good news that the Forbes recommendations are more common sense than costly!

Stay Safe!

What Skills Do CyberSecurity Professionals Need?

Cybersecurity professionals need specific skills as demonstrated in Tuesday's post on MOOCs and Thursday's on cybersecurity degree programs. Often IT people think that technical skills are the most important part of getting hired and, even more, moving up the professional ladder. Wrong! In recent years employers have become increasingly focused on the 'soft skills' that permit IT professionals to work effectively in teams.

Do a quick search if you don't believe me; you'll find that most of the top results deal with the importance of soft skills. The post from which I took this list is especially good because it tells exactly how students can develop and demonstrate the most important soft skills. Those are:

1. COMMUNICATION
2. Planning and organization
3. Drive, motivation and enthusiasm
4. Problem solving
5. Teamwork

Life in the 21st Century Workforce   http://bit.ly/2CdAked

This data from the US Chamber of Commerce gives a broader look and emphasizes the importance of soft skills. It also adds another important warning. Skills will have to be upgraded throughout the worker's lifetime. That's especially true of workers in IT in general and cybersecurity in particular where change is the norm.

https://plus.google.com/u/0/b/102889097273633586605/collection/MZ8TKB

We thought about the importance of developing and presenting skills of all kinds when writing the Social Media Marketing textbook. The result was an emphasis on personal branding with a call-out in almost every chapter to show how that particular social medium could be used in personal brand development. Offline activities such as participation in activities and public speaking are also important. I've continued to collect worthwhile references on personal branding on a dedicated G+ page. Check it out before it goes away! I hope it will come back in some form, but I can't yet say what.

Today's message for cybersecurity professionals and students alike is--develop the skills you need, both hard and soft, and learn to present them in a way that supports your goals.

Stay Safe!

Related Updates
LinkedIn--biggest skills gap not coding 

Degrees in Cybersecurity

It shouldn't come as a surprise to anyone that cybersecurity is one of the fastest growing job fields around the world and the fastest growing in the IT industry. The infographic below is sort of the tip of this fascinating iceberg. Another is salaries. Entry-level salaries are impressive while salaries for experienced people in the hottest parts of cybersecurity are stratospheric.

Link to the infographic and more at  https://bit.ly/2C9bWtS

Wednesday's post listed some top MOOCs in cybersecurity. That is one way to break into the field. It is possibly the best way to determine whether you would like to pursue a degree in cybersecurity. The next step might be some sort of certification. The bit.ly link above connects to some programs and I'm sure there are more. Many of them are for-profit; check them out carefully before you pay $.

That said, I'm going to focus on degree programs. They begin with 2-year associates programs and go on from there. Here is one list of degree programs. This is a longer list, which is global and alphabetical--no pretense at ranking.

Word of warning--the reader quickly comes across for-profit colleges. That's not surprising because they are skewed toward the trendier degrees. Some are good; some are rip-offs. So check out any for-profit degree programs, even if they have some sort of higher ed certification, just as carefully as a certification program. And use exactly the same criteria used for a non-profit. That's the only way to find out 1) if the program is credible and 2) if it's worth what is likely to be extra $$.

Graduation rates are one useful indicator but I cannot find a source for specific degree programs. This is a searchable list that seems to contain most colleges and other good data like student/teacher ratio. Just keep in mind that is is at the college level and graduation rates for STEM degrees are consistently lower than others.

Notice that the graduation rates link above has other useful criteria like student-teacher ratio and percent of students who receive financial aid. Also do a general search on any program that seems worth consideration. Look at the News tab to see whether there's anything a prospective students should be aware of.

Stay Safe!

Should You Participate in a MOOC in Cybersecurity?

I love the opening paragraph of this post:

MOOCs (“Massive Open Online Courses”) are becoming more popular than cheese. They’re offered by universities, taught by faculty and freely available to anyone who’s interested in cyber security – man, woman, child or career-changer.

The post does a good job of explaining what a MOOC is. Then is goes on to make what seems to be a common mistake of listing degree programs, not stand-alone MOOCS. This listing gives you an idea of what you can find if you look.

https://www.mooc-list.com/tags/cybersecurity

Let me add my own personal word of warning. Most students do not meet all the requirements and complete the course. That is not necessarily bad. If the student has learned what he or she came for, that's a good thing. Employers may not accept a MOOC as being particularly valuable, although that may be shortsighted. A MOOC is all about (free) learning; that is the important thing.

Do, however, pay attention to the ratings.