Introduction
While everyone is running behind Artificial Intelligence these days, it almost feels like a gold rush. However, during the gold rush, people who sold shovels became richer than those who were lucky enough to find gold. So if career in AI is like the “Gold Rush”, what is the “Shovel”? We believe that whether the AI hype will turn out to be true or not, a career in Cybersecurity is going to be the gold-digging Shovel of the 21st Century.
Cybersecurity is a very vast domain and there are many different roles in it. In this blog, let us explore all the types of cybersecurity career path. We believe that once you read it, you will have a better clarity on what is the perfect fit for you!
Embarking on a career in cybersecurity is an exciting journey filled with opportunities to protect organisations and individuals from evolving cyber threats. The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification serves as a guiding beacon for cybersecurity professionals, covering eight essential domains that form the foundation of the field. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore both the career paths available in cybersecurity and the fundamental principles outlined in CISSP’s eight domains, offering detailed insights for aspiring cybersecurity professionals.
1. Security and Risk Management:
Career Options: Security Analyst
Security and risk management is the cornerstone of cybersecurity, focusing on establishing and maintaining effective security governance principles, compliance requirements, and risk management concepts within organisations. As a security analyst, you’ll play a crucial role in assessing security risks, developing security policies, and ensuring compliance with regulatory standards such as GDPR, HIPAA, and PCI DSS.
2. Asset Security
Career Options: Security Architect
Asset security involves protecting the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of assets within an organisation, including data, infrastructure, and systems. As a security architect, you’ll be responsible for designing secure architectures, implementing access controls, and safeguarding sensitive information assets against unauthorised access, theft, or damage.
3. Security Architecture and Engineering
Career Options: Network Security Engineer (Cloud Security Specialist)
Security and risk management is fundamental in cybersecurity. It focuses on establishing security architecture and engineering. This includes the design and implementation of secure systems, networks, and architectures to protect against cyber threats. Network security engineers specialize in configuring firewalls, encryption protocols, and intrusion detection systems. Their goal is to defend against network-based attacks and ensure the confidentiality and integrity of data transmissions.
4. Communication and Network Security
Career Options: Network Security Engineer (Cloud Security Specialist)
Communication and network security aim to secure network infrastructure and communication channels. Network security engineers deploy and manage network security devices like routers, switches, and firewalls. They monitor network traffic for anomalies and implement encryption protocols to protect data in transit.
5. Identity and Access Management
Career Options: Identity and Access Management(IAM) Specialist
Identity and access management (IAM) is essential for managing user identities, access privileges, and authentication mechanisms within organisations. IAM specialists design and implement access control policies, enforce identity verification procedures, and manage user authentication and authorization processes to prevent unauthorised access to sensitive resources and data.
6. Security Assessment and Testing
Career Options: Penetration Tester (Ethical Hacker)
Security assessment and testing entail evaluating the security posture of systems and applications. This is done through penetration testing, vulnerability assessments, and security audits. Penetration testers, or ethical hackers, simulate cyber attacks. Their aim is to identify security vulnerabilities and exploit weaknesses. They then provide recommendations for remediation to enhance overall security posture.
What are the types of pen tests?
- Open-box pen test – In this pen test, the hacker is informed beforehand with some information regarding the target company’s security info. Using this information, the ethical hacker tries to perform the testing
- Closed-box pen test – This is known as a ‘single-blind’ test. In this, the application provides the attacker with no security information about the vulnerabilities they need to uncover.
- Covert pen test – The other name for this type of test is ‘double-blind’ pen test. In this situation, almost no one in the company is aware of the test, including IT and security professionals. For covert tests, the hacker must have the scope and other details of the test in writing beforehand. This avoids any problems with law enforcement.
- External pen test – In this test, the hacker is denied entry into the premise of the company whose application is being tested. The hacker tries to attack the external facing technology of the company. Some examples of the external facing technologies of the company are website and external network servers.
- Internal pen test – The main motto of this type of penetration testing is to find out how much of damage can a “disgruntled employee” of the organization can cause. Here, the ethical hacker performs the test from the company’s internal network.
7. Security Operations
Career Options: Incident Response Specialist / Security Analyst
Security operations encompass the day-to-day activities involved in monitoring, detecting, and responding to security incidents and breaches. Incident responders investigate security breaches, analyse incident data, coordinate incident response efforts, and implement security controls to mitigate risks and prevent future incidents.
8. Software Development Security
Career Options: Application Security Engineer / Security Software Developer
Software development security focuses on integrating security principles into the software development lifecycle to build secure and resilient software applications. Security software developers write secure code, conduct security reviews, and implement secure coding practices to mitigate software vulnerabilities, prevent exploitation, and protect against cyber threats.
The NIST framework defines the secure software development processes. This process Is organised into four stages:
- Prepare the Organization (PO): The organization prepares its people, processes, and technology to perform secure software development at both the organisational level and, in some cases, for each individual project.
- Protect all components of the software from tampering and unauthorized access.
- Produce Well-secured Software (PW): Software must have minimal level and number of vulnerabilities.
- Respond to Vulnerabilities (RV): Identify vulnerabilities in software releases and respond appropriately to address these vulnerabilities and prevent similar vulnerabilities from occurring in the future.
Each practice is defined with the following elements:
- Practice: A brief statement of the practice, along with a unique identifier and an explanation of what the practice is and why it is beneficial.
- Task: An individual action (or actions) needed to accomplish a practice.
- Implementation Example: A given scenario that could be used to demonstrate a practice.
- Reference: An established secure development practice document and its mappings to a particular task.
Conclusion
By understanding the core principles outlined in CISSP’s eight domains, aspiring professionals can explore diverse cybersecurity career path. This enables them to chart a rewarding path dedicated to protecting digital assets and safeguarding cyberspace. Whether interested in analyzing security risks or designing secure architectures, the cybersecurity field offers endless opportunities for growth, impact, and contribution. Responding to incidents is another crucial aspect, providing professionals with avenues to make a difference in the global community.
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