Creating a win-win strategy
By Pedro Tavares, Founder of CSIRT.UBI & Cyber Security Blog seguranca-informatica.pt
Currently, cybersecurity is a field with a lot of demand, from pure management to researching new threats, responding to massive attacks in real-time and keep away enterprises and organizations from data breaches. Formation of new candidates with this encapsulated mindset is seen as a natural course of action due to emergent cybersecurity challenges that expect serious dedication.
Cyber threats are, in fact, growing in size and sophistication. Many multinational companies such as Facebook and Uber made headlines after having their customer information leaked online [1]. To fight this big challenge, there are some resources, such as degrees and certifications that can be taken in order to create more specialized candidates in the field.
According to the Bureau of Labor Standards, “employment of information security analysts is projected to grow 28 percent from 2016 to 2026. Demand for information security analysts is expected to be very high, as these analysts will be needed to create innovative solutions to prevent hackers from stealing critical information or causing problems for computer networks” [2].
Creating the right personal sense of achievement
Both employees and organizations get win-win situations through professional certification. There are enterprise and personal certifications that can bring much more expertise and knowledge, both for employees and the company. With this doctrine established, employees will create a more credible image to the clients and build a reputation in the employer’s industry.
Increased productivity has a direct impact on both an employee’s day to day life as well as in the organization’s activity in general. Next, we describe some things that need to be kept in mind.
Happier employees
The need for achievement refers to the desire of accomplishment, mastering of skills, control, and high standards. This culture needs to be implanted as a new doctrine inside organizations. Motivated people are the key to success.
Increase productivity
The rule of thumb to increase the employee’s productivity is the ability to combine new technologies with the right human capital and to change the organization’s operations, activities, processes and the way to explore new opportunities. Education and training have a crucial role in this context. And of course, certifications can help you to walk this pathway.
Cultivate employee’s skills
New skills contribute to the evolution of the way an organization operates, providing new ideas and perspectives. This point can also be responsible for your career development and to open new opportunities in your life.
The crucial point: salary
And of course, with greater responsibility comes a higher salary!
Cyber Security Certifications
There are certifications within this field that are considered fundamental. These certifications are among the best of and can prepare you for a wide variety of situations.
If we consider the security landscape, for example, we can list CompTIA Security+ and Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certifications. These are recognized worldwide and can help you enhance your skills.
In detail, CompTIA Security+ is a certification globally trusted to validate foundational, vendor-neutral IT security knowledge and skills. This certification focuses on training covers the essential principles for network security and risk management – making it an important stepping stone of an cybersecurity career.
On the other hand, CISSP course aligned with (ISC)² will train you on the advanced step-by-step methodology that hackers actually use, such as writing virus codes and reverse engineering, so you can better protect corporate infrastructure from data breaches. This CISSP certification course will help you to become Information Assurance Professional who need to understand all aspects of IT Security including architecture, design, management & control. Also helps you to master advanced network packet analysis and advanced system penetration testing techniques to build your network security skill-set and beat hackers at their own game.
The table below depicts more details on security certifications in 2019.
| Name | Cost | Requirements |
| CompTIA Security+ | US$269 | A minimum of two years experience in IT and network security |
| GIAC Security Essentials (GSEC) | US$769 / US$1,899 | No specific training is required, however practical experience is recommended. |
| NIST Cybersecurity Framework (NCSF), both Foundation and Practitioner | US$995 for Foundational, US$3,295 for Practitioner | The Foundational course has no prerequisites however you must hold a valid NIST Cybersecurity Foundation Certification or have equivalent knowledge to complete the Practitioner. |
| Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) | US$800 | Penetration Testing with Kali Linux |
| Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) | US$500 | Attend a five-day EC Council approved training course or have at least two years of information security experience. |
| Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) | US$760 | Five years in cybersecurity and three years in security management |
| Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) | US$549 per attempt | A minimum of 5 years of full-time, paid, cumulative information technology, including at least three years of information security and one year of cloud computing. |
| Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) | One six-hour exam at US$699 plus four additional concentration exams at US$599 each. | At least 5 years of recent full-time professional work experience in 2 or more of the 8 domains of the CISSP common body of knowledge. |
| Certified Protection Professional (CPP) | US$450 | Nine years of security experience, at least three of which responsibility for a security function has been held. |
Overall, both companies and employees themselves can gain from this new mindset. Look that a better professional image of the organization can be created, with people specializing in certain points of knowledge. Happier employees motive and influence other people. So, find your certifications and to boost your career via a new kind of culture that you need to absorb.
References
[2] https://www.bls.gov/ooh/computer-and-information-technology/information-security-analysts.htm
About the Author
Pedro Tavares is a cybersecurity professional and a founding member and Pentester of CSIRT.UBI and the founder of seguranca-informatica.pt.In recent years he has invested in the field of information security, exploring and analyzing a wide range of topics, such as pentesting (Kali Linux), malware, hacking, cybersecurity, IoT and security in computer networks. He is also a Freelance Writer. Segurança Informática blog: www.seguranca-informatica.pt
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sirpedrotavares
Contact me: [email protected]
