In today’s modern world, cybersecurity is one of the most in-demand fields for IT professionals. This is because networking technology, be it new or old, is present in every corner of the globe. And as a core aspect of everyone’s daily lives, its protection and security must be prioritised by companies and businesses alike.
If you’re interested in pursuing a career in this thriving industry, there are a couple of things you need. First, getting certified by signing up for cybersecurity courses can ensure that you stand out from the crowd. Second, acquiring the technical skillsets needed to pass those certification exams and do the actual work is a must.
To guide you in your cybersecurity journey, read on to know the top technical skills you must possess to succeed.

Technical skillsets needed:

1. Firewall/IDS/IPS technical skills
Filtering traffic and keeping an eye on the entire network infrastructure is necessary to prevent and combat any potential threats or attacks. As such, it’s vital to fully understand and leverage the organisation’s tools that address these issues and prevent unauthorised access onto the network. For the most part, these security devices are your network security’s firewall and the infrastructure’s Intrusion Detection Systems (IDS) and Intrusion Prevention Systems (IPS).

2. SIEM Management
Each organisation will have its security information and event management (SIEM) tools and services. As a security professional, it falls upon you to become well-informed about the services employed and be able to adeptly manage, make sense of, and utilise its data output.

3. Security incident handling and response
Whether internal or external, a cybersecurity expert must be capable of handling all security threats, incidents, and violations of the organisation’s security policies or standard practices. For the former two, these can include the infiltration of malicious programmes like malware and ransomware or persistent attack campaigns such as Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS).

4. Application security development
When it comes to applications, there’s almost always something that can be improved security-wise. As such, a cybersecurity professional must be able to identify the vulnerabilities of the organisation’s employed applications, generate probable solutions, and apply them accordingly. Additionally, suppose the organisation generates software solutions for its clients. In that case, the expert must also partake in the software development cycle and ensure that the solution is secure and relatively free of vulnerabilities.

5. Advanced malware prevention
Knowing how to prevent, detect, and identify Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) is an essential skill for any security practitioner. This is because advanced malware programmes and attack campaigns, such as the one mentioned above, can circumvent traditional network security solutions and surreptitiously infiltrate network infrastructures.

6. Analytics
By making sense of the data and intelligence gathered, a security practitioner can stay one step ahead of the opposition and identify and spot cyberattacks swiftly. Through this aggregation and analysis of network infrastructure and application data, the expert can also prevent attacks from occurring in the future.

7. Data management protection
Every company or business will store all kinds of data, be it its own or its clients and customers. Suppose an organisation deals with sensitive customer data. In that case, its security practitioners must be aware of the numerous privacy laws established globally and comply with those that apply to it.
Now that you have a good idea of the skills that this field requires, here are several certifications that you can acquire to further enhance and quantify your capabilities.

Certifications to take up:

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) 

The CISSP certification was developed to meet the computer industry’s current demands and growing needs. This training course is essential for a career involving security tasks and prepares the student with the skills needed to protect your organisation from sophisticated cyber-attacks. They also gain a solid background on security concerns, communications, infrastructure, basic cryptography and operations, and the hands-on experience needed to design, implement and manage a security programme.

• CompTIA Security+

The CompTIA Security+ course is designed to help students prepare for the SY0-501 exam. They will implement and monitor security on networks, applications, and operating systems and respond to security breaches.

• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) 

The certified ethical hacker course aims to help the student master ethical hacking methodologies that can be used in penetration tests or ethical hacking situations. Students are guaranteed to walk out the door with in-demand ethical hacking skills and an internationally recognised Certified Ethical Hacker certification.

Conclusion

A security professional’s responsibilities are numerous, but with passion and a bit of perseverance, a student is sure to find their place within the industry.
If you’re ready to take the first step of your cybersecurity career, then start by learning the fundamentals found in BridgingMind’s Cybersecurity Fundamentals For IT Professionals course. Recommended by IT authorities such as IT.com, our cybersecurity courses ensure that you gain the necessary foundation to excel in the security industry. Our courses are also eligible for SSG training subsidies to keep your learning accessible and affordable!