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How to Become a Cybersecurity Engineer

Featured image by Michael Traitov on Shutterstock

Data breaches happen with great regularity these days, and companies need to be vigilant. They must protect their data from ever-more-clever hackers who are becoming harder to stop. That’s why cybersecurity engineers are in high demand.

Consequently, if you want a career that will keep you continuously employed for many years, you should become a cybersecurity engineer. They are at the front lines of a war on people’s data and money. In short, they have an essential role.

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The key to success in any area these days is to specialize. If you are a programmer or are thinking about becoming one, then specializing as a cybersecurity engineer will have you in a career that shows no signs of slowing down. Being a dataops engineer can also lead to a promising career. Learn more about what dataops is.

In this article, we go over what you need to know to forge a career as a cybersecurity engineer.

Education for Becoming a Cybersecurity Engineer

Before you can earn a degree as a cybersecurity engineer, you’ll need to start with a computer science degree at least. If you already have that under your belt, you are already halfway there. But if you haven’t started your studies yet, then you’ll need to find the best university for computer science that you can find near you.

Therefore, take a look at rankings of the various institutes you have your eye on and see if their programs are good enough. For instance, the Aston University ranking shows that it has a good program for starting your journey toward becoming a cybersecurity engineer. It will give you a solid base with a computer science degree.

On the one hand, there is no particular path you need to take. However, the foundation for a career as a cybersecurity engineer is a solid understanding of how technology works. If you already have a degree in something IT-related then this can help.

Types of Cybersecurity Engineers

There are a lot of ways to use your degree as a cybersecurity engineer. This is because cybersecurity is a field that encompasses different levels. For instance, a beginning engineer could work as a systems administrator with a certificate in CompTIA Security+. Then you can progress to being an ethical hacker. This means you will be tasked with finding vulnerabilities within systems.

Later on as you gain experience as a cybersecurity engineer, you can strive to become an EC-Council Certified Security Analyst (ECSA). As such, you will be in charge of assessing security risks. Your job will be to come up with the right strategy for handling security for a company or an organization.

Join Groups and Network

The cybersecurity industry is continuously changing. Therefore, it pays to take part in groups that share information. Basically, you should count on other cybersecurity engineers to keep you in the loop.

Besides, belonging to an association will have you invited to conferences, seminars, and local meetups with other cybersecurity engineers. These will keep you abreast of all the trends in cybersecurity.

Not only that, but you will find yourself surrounded by a network of peers who are always looking to lift each other up.

Networking can be especially important when you are starting out. This is because it is essential to have people to guide you so you can end up where you want to be. Since the path isn’t linear, it helps to have other cybersecurity engineers who can show you what they did. Then you can follow in their footsteps.