Cybersecurity Career Spotlight: What it is and how to get started
Welcome to another special issue and our first Career Spotlight. This week, we’re exploring cybersecurity in celebration of the upcoming launch of the Microsoft Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate.
Cybersecurity professionals protect data and computer networks from cyber attacks. There are several cybersecurity career paths, each of which is responsible for a different aspect of cybersecurity, like identifying threats, building secure systems, or responding to incidents. Cybersecurity analysts, and the closely related information security analysts, are typically the first line of defense against cybercrime, and these roles tend to be nice entry points for people looking to get into cybersecurity.
Since their expertise is important to any company that uses digital technologies, cybersecurity professionals are in demand. According to a 2022 study by the cybersecurity professional organization (ISC)², there are over 3.4 million unfilled cybersecurity positions worldwide. (That’s a 26.2 percent increase from the previous year.) According to a recent study from the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education at NIST, CompTIA, and Lightcast, in the US, there are only 68 cybersecurity workers for every 100 open roles!
In fact, these professionals are in such high demand that employers may offer advanced training opportunities for entry- and mid-level employees in this field. Even better: cybersecurity salaries tend to be high.
If you’re thinking about transitioning into a cybersecurity role, IT, software engineering, software development, or computer science experience can help you stand out since you’ll be working within similar computer systems. But regardless of your past experience, you can start learning cybersecurity today.
Where to begin
Pre-enroll in the Microsoft Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate to be among the first people to explore this new program. As a bonus, the first 2,500 learners who complete all courses in the series will receive 100% off the Microsoft SC-900 Certification Exam.
While you wait for the Microsoft program to launch, check out the University of Maryland’s crash course, Cybersecurity for Everyone, or revisit the equally exciting and highly-rated Cybersecurity Professional Certificates from Google and IBM.
Keep learning about careers in cybersecurity
If you want to know more about cybersecurity careers, these are our top three most popular guides:
- 10 Popular Cybersecurity Certifications
- 10 Cybersecurity Jobs: Entry-Level and Beyond
- 5 Cybersecurity Career Paths (and How to Get Started)
If you already have experience with software engineering, software development, or computer science, you may want to explore our guides on ethical hacking, security engineers, and security architects.
That’s all for this week. We’ll be back next week with a fresh series. Until then, which career would you like us to explore in our next career spotlight? Let us know in the comments!
