Cyber Security Engineer Career, Study, Jobs: A Complete Guide 2020

Cyber Security Engineer Career Guide 2020

Cybersecurity is the way to protect electronic data, computer systems, networks, and any other confidential information from intruders with a high level of data encryption.

The aim of cyber attackers is to access, steal, and destroy sensitive information over a network or system. They can even sabotage business practices and extort money from the users, who are running their networks with high attack rate vulnerabilities.

Around the world, government and different organizations are pretty active to counter cyber attackers of any kind, to prevent the loss and leakage of sensitive, confidential data. In this regard, they have a team of cybersecurity analysts, engineers, and designers that work in the whole process to safeguard the system from the dirty and unethical process.

Who is a Cybersecurity Engineer?

A cybersecurity engineer is a professional that plays a technical role in an organization or a firm. On the base level, his or her role is to monitor and implement computer and network security protocols that are necessary to protect the sensitive information from any theft or hack. The job or task can vary depending on the size of the company, type of the industry, and the size of the I.T team as well.

Career of Cyber Security Engineer

What will I study to become CS engineers?

If you intend to become a cybersecurity engineer, then now is the time to do so. The demand for cybersecurity engineers and related specialists will increase owing to the spread of the internet for different purposes. So, a huge amount of data and information need to be saved at all costs.

As an aspiring cybersecurity engineer, you have to study undergraduate programs in cybersecurity or a related field like computer engineering, computer programming, or computer science. For a higher degree program, you can major in subjects like information technology, applied mathematics, and information systems.

Institutes that offer such a curriculum that also cultivates hard- and soft-core skills will surely expedite your career in the right direction.

Having a bachelor’s degree met the initial requirements of a cybersecurity engineer. Yet, a master’s degree will render you to become more competitive for top-level positions. Normally, cybersecurity engineers require 1.5 years of related I.T experience. So, you need to consult your school for career planning and the job search. Many college degree programs provision internships, which is part of the final year curriculum. 

5 Important skills

As a cybersecurity engineer, you need to have basic skills and experiences. The top five are as follows;

1. Information about best practices for cybersecurity that helps how to stay aligned with the industry.

2. Understanding of the security breach protocols and computer forensics.

3. Knowledge of computer programming is essential because you should be considered a technical person to stop the attacks of the malware with the help of their executive coding skills.

4. Knowledge and background of risk assessment methods and technologies.

5. The skill to conduct security evaluations and risk assessments.

Who will hire me?

You can get hired by the following companies;

1. Microsoft

2. IBM

3. Amazon

4. Cisco

5. FireEye

6. Lockheed Martin

7. and other various companies in the world….

Job Responsibilities

The job responsibilities required to be performed by Cybersecurity Engineers are:

1. Apart from testing security procedures, cybersecurity engineer needs to monitor software and the systems for irregular behavior and intrusions.

2. Cybersecurity engineer needs to investigate security-related incidents as they take place. Digital forensic methods will be deployed to track the intruders as well as to assess the source of the attacks.

3. Security plans and procedures need to be developed and communicated. This will include monitoring and implementing the best security practices. Moreover, educating the company leadership and staff about the best method to integrate the latest security protocols.

4. Vulnerabilities need to be tested for digital infrastructure. This includes conducting or supervising periodic penetration testing to detect any weakness in the security plan. The primary aim is to hack the company’s own digital information before real hackers do.

5. Security protection development is also essential job responsibility. This will require the creation and deployment of software and technology like encryption algorithms and data structure firewalls to safeguard company information.

Cybersecurity Engineers Salary

The salary of cybersecurity engineers differs as it depends on position, company, and location. Yet, most of the cybersecurity engineers do earn generous pay and can enjoy different benefits with career prospects as well. According to Payscale, CS engineers make a median salary of 89,000 US dollars per year. Here, entry-level ones make 69,000 US dollars, and more experienced ones earn 111,000 US dollars.

Growth Opportunities

Jobs in the life of a Cybersecurity engineer

There can be different jobs or roles for cybersecurity engineers. They are as follows;

1. Security Engineer or Architect.

2. Security Analyst.

3. Systems Administrator.

4. Security I.T/Director.

5. Forensics Investigator.

6. Network Architect or Engineer.

7. Systems Engineer or Integrator.

Top 15 Emerging Jobs in India for 2020 (By Linkedin)

Industries where I will work as a Cyber Security Engineer

You can expect to get a job in given four industries;

1. Online Retail

2. Banking and Finance

3. Education

4. Healthcare

Outcome

Since there is a vast need for digital protection, one has a promising scope as a cybersecurity engineer. According to data provided by BLS, the job outlook is fast than the average for the period between 2016 to 2026, respectively. By the year 2021, there will be 3.5 million unfulfilled security positions as assessed in the US alone. This information was assessed by Casey Ellis (CTO and Founder at Bug crowd).

Conclusion

The demand for cybersecurity employees is rising at more than three times the pace than the rest of the I.T job market. This is 12 times the increase compared to the general job market. The development of new technologies brings new amazing opportunities. Yet, this also leads towards new opportunities for dangerous losses as well. Therefore, protection against loss or damage will be more than vital for big and small enterprises.

So, if you are the one looking towards cybersecurity engineering, then it will be lucrative for you in terms of job, earnings, benefits, and career growth.

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