Keeping your skills up to date is important in any industry, in the world of Cyber Security it’s vital! Whether you are thinking of moving to a new company, looking for a promotion or simply want to ensure a long-lasting career, here are ten hard and soft skills you need to have in 2022!
1. Digital Forensics
Preventing hacking and other cyber attacks is traditionally what cyber security is all about, but what happens when a breach of security has occurred, and sensitive data has been accessed? Digital forensic professionals work to discover how the attack happened, who was behind it and how to recover any lost data. Knowing a little about digital forensics will help everyone in cyber security, knowing a lot might be the start of an exciting new career!
2. Hacking
To be an effective cyber security professional, it helps to have seen the world from the other side. Poachers and gamekeepers! Learning how to ‘ethically hack’ will help you understand the weaknesses of a corporation and so create a better defence system. There are many courses and events that can help develop these skills, just make sure the focus is 100% on Ethical!
3. Penetration Testing
Once you have some hacking skills, the next step is to get involved with formal penetration testing. A structured attempt to ethically hack a corporation and report your findings, good and bad. If you enjoy the challenge of trying to beat an IT system’s defences, then becoming a penetration testing specialist could be for you. Tools such as Metasploit can be used to develop your skills, but once again, make sure you do so in an ethical environment.
4. Security Information and Event Management
Splunk is a great example of an enterprise-level security information and event management (SIEM) service which enables a rapid response to cybersecurity threats and helps make threat management easier. The software helps cyber security teams gather data from multiple access points and develop well-reasoned cybersecurity strategies, tailored to an enterprise’s security requirements and unique vulnerabilities. Learning about at least one SIEM service will help you in 2022.
5. Empathy
This may seem a strange skill to focus on, however, it is one that could give you an advantage. Empathy is the ability to understand the feelings of another human, and it is a human at the other end of a hack or security breach. Being able to understand the motivation of a hacker or the implications of a hack on the people targeted, will help you be a more effective cyber security professional.
6. Business Intelligence (BI)
Data is increasingly a highly valuable asset for any company and securing that data is vital. With data breaches becoming more common and their financial impact increasing, security is a big focus. Learning more about BI and how to identify vulnerabilities, encrypt communications and set effective permission hierarchies will help both your employer and your career.
7. Cryptojacking
With the ever-increasing popularity of mining cryptocurrency, hackers are always on the lookout for ways to use someone else’s computer power. Cryptojacking attacks can easily remain undiscovered, as no ransom is being demanded or data being breached. The only thing being stolen is CPU cycles. No one knows exactly how much cryptocurrency is mined through cryptojacking, but there’s no question that the practice is on the increase. Understanding how to detect and defend against it will only get more important in 2022.
8. Problem-solving and lateral thinking
Problem-solving is a soft skill that has always been prized by employers. In the world of cyber security, easy steps have already been taken, so being able to think through the more difficult issues and how to address them is a great skill to have. Whether you are figuring out the best way to secure sensitive data or working out how a data breach occurred, problem-solving skills will help you reach the right conclusion. They are great skills to have on your CV too.
9. Coding
Having a good knowledge of at least one language is an important skill, and perhaps surprisingly, it’s not a skill that everyone in the cyber security industry has. Low-level languages like C and C++ give a good foundation to understand coding. Python makes a good all-purpose high-level language to learn. PHP and HTML are important in the world of website creation and JavaScript can help in preventing cross-site scripting attacks.
10. Cloud Security
Cloud services are now an integral part of most IT infrastructures. Public and hybrid cloud offerings, such as AWS or Azure are being used to run key applications and handle sensitive data. Being able to construct highly secure IT systems using 3rd party cloud offerings is not as easy as you might think. Cyber security professionals with experience in doing so are in high demand.
Whatever your current role or level of experience, learning a new skill is always a good thing to do. We hope the list above has given you some ideas. Intaso wishes you a happy and secure 2022.
