Cybersecurity is unarguably cool, and hacking, with its prevention, has earned an undeniable place in our pop culture. These attacks require countermeasures, and as a result of the increase in the rate of cyber threats, there is a fast-growing need for experts with cybersecurity skills.
These skills include familiarity with various systems and tools, and the ability to carry out various advanced tasks like making risk assessments and performing penetration testing. Having the right mindset and soft skills is equally important.
Meanwhile, the cybersecurity industry has been dealing with a shortage of skilled professionals at a time like this when the nature and frequency of cyberattacks are worsening. This has made companies be on the lookout for skilled and experienced professionals to narrow the workforce shortage. Therefore, let us discuss the top cybersecurity skills you can learn in 2022 to start your cyber security career.
Top 7 Cybersecurity Skills to Learn In 2022
Risk Assessment
Cybersecurity experts need to know how to carry out a risk assessment for an organization. This is because the near-limitless strategies that a hacker can use to cause problems make it almost impossible to defend against all possibilities, even with a team of the most knowledgeable professionals in IT.
Risk assessment is an integral part of the cybersecurity skill set because it gives room for you to identify and prioritize the vulnerabilities in the defenses of a system that have the probability of being attacked by a hacker.
When you can assess the greatest risks in a system, and you have the ability to resolve them, then you will be more proactive and effective, especially when it comes to the protection of that system.
Penetration Testing
If you will be a cybersecurity specialist in 2022, you will need to know your way around penetration testing. This method improves your cybersecurity defenses by staging an actual attempted hack on your servers.
Sometimes, organizations hire freelance hackers whose whole career has been spent working with companies to hack into their systems and then steal information (with the company’s knowledge) to see where the defense can be best improved. For a company that saves sensitive data, regular penetration is essential.
Cybersecurity experts specializing in penetration testing are typically known as ethical hackers or “white hat”. The moment they know a security system is in place for a server, these cybersecurity professionals immediately attempt to hack it.
Once successful, the carefully documented hack gives the organization’s cybersecurity team the data that can be used to build better protection strategies and resolve potential vulnerabilities before an actual hacker eventually comes to knock.
Digital Forensics
When it comes to cybersecurity, a lot of professionals work towards increasing digital security and preventing hacks from occurring in the first instance. Nevertheless, hacks still occur, compromising sensitive information in the process. So, that is where the skill of digital forensics comes into play.
After an attack, professionals in digital forensics work to recover the lost data, identify the sources of the attack, and work to enhance the cybersecurity defenses.
Even though a foundational understanding of digital forensics is vital for any cybersecurity expert, you can as well choose to specialize in this field, most especially if you have an interest in the intersection of the law and cybersecurity IT.
Cloud Security
With several enterprises moving assets and services to the cloud, cloud security skills are in quite short supply. That is because cloud security utilizes various security protocols and tools rather than traditional on-prem data centers. For example, an active directory uses security protocols like NTLM (New Technology LAN Manager), LDAP (Lightweight Directory Access Protocol), and Kerberos and group policy as its policy management system.
The cloud also utilizes web-based authentication protocols like SAML (Security Assertion Markup Language), OAuth (Open Authorization), and WS-Federation. It relies on a portal management system to get policies delivered. While the principles do not change, the approaches and tools do not remain the same.
You need to have experience with a cloud platform like AWD or Azure and familiarize yourself with several operating systems, identity and access technologies, and web application firewalls. Cloud security is one of the easy skills to acquire as one gets an environment to learn from through a simple subscription instead of developing a dedicated network.
Blockchain Security
Blockchain is one of the hottest technologies, meaning the need to secure it is high. The difficulty in the protection of a blockchain is balancing the need for security and transparency.
The need to safeguard the CIA triad of confidentiality, integrity, and availability is at a high level with the blockchain. Its value is also dependent on the confidence and trust that people have in it. Furthermore, in addition to conventional security tools, security controls are special to the blockchain.
Certain critical components include the protection of API-based transactions, privileged access management (PAM), and enforcing identity and access controls.
Problem-Solving
Problem-solving skill ranks high on practically all employers’ list of essential cybersecurity skills. At its root, cybersecurity is about the identification of security issues and looking for ways of defense against them.
Hence, understanding how you can effectively approach a problem and working towards discovering its solution will get you well-prepared for a career as a cybersecurity expert.
Collaboration
Here is another essential cybersecurity skill in that while some organizations only employ one cybersecurity expert, other organizations with a lot of sensitive information to protect, especially large companies, usually engage teams of professionals.
Therefore, knowing how to work very well in a group means you can identify the weaknesses in a system better and also create a solid defense plan. Moreover, open communication tends to lead to unique dialogues and perspectives that one person couldn’t have arrived at on their own.
With effective collaboration, everybody in a team will be able to share and employ their expertise and industry knowledge to the benefit of the entire team.
Cybersecurity Bootcamp
Whether you wish to work on digital forensics or you are interested in creating strong defenses to protect sensitive data, there are various career paths available in the rapidly-growing cybersecurity field you can choose from.
However, a cybersecurity boot camp can be a great way to build up your skill set. They usually take less time than a degree program, and they are highly focused on essential skills. No one else can decide how you want to build the skills needed to thrive in the cybersecurity sector except you.