Cybersecurity is a hot industry right now, with high demand for talents. While this means that it won’t be too difficult to find a job in the field, it also depends on whether you have the skills to show for it.

If you want to get hired into the cybersecurity field, you have to possess certain qualities that make you right for the job, such as a passion for IT and a meticulous nature. Apart from these characteristics, having the relevant paper qualifications will assure potential employers or clients of your hard skills in cybersecurity.

According to industry experts, here are some of the skills you need to be an in-demand professional in cybersecurity:

Intrusion detection

If working on the frontlines is what you envision yourself to do, you need to be equipped with this. Knowing how to create and manage softwares that can detect unwanted access to systems is the key to saving millions of dollars to malware and data breaches. To keep up to date with the techniques for building strong intrusion detection software, you can enrol in training courses for the Certified Information Security Manager (CISM) and the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.

Malware analysis and reversal

In the unfortunate event that a system suffers an intrusion by malware, resolving it quickly is crucial to minimise the damages incurred. A quick-thinking professional armed with the ability to help systems recover from attacks is highly essential in any cybersecurity team. Some skills you can brush up on in this area are malware analysis and reversal.

Programming skills

Programming skills are necessary for cybersecurity experts to carry out processes like analysing threats and developing counter-measures. Thus, it pays to know your coding languages well, such as C, C++, PHP, Perl, Java, and Shell. Cybersecurity professionals should also have a working knowledge when it comes to system architecture, administration, and management of operating systems, virtualisation software, and networking.

Risk analysis skills

Part of a cybersecurity professional’s job is to identify and track risks, as well as discover new threats on an ongoing basis. Doing so requires some level of foresight and eye for detail. Industry insiders say that many companies will be looking to outsource this aspect of cybersecurity, meaning that being skilled in this area will be a big boon to you in terms of employability and pay.

Think like a black hat

One approach to cybersecurity is to think one step ahead of the criminals. So, you need to know how to pre-empt attacks by putting yourself in the shoes of cyber attackers. The process for doing this is called penetration testing or ethical hacking, where cybersecurity experts simulate attacks on the system to pinpoint vulnerabilities that need to be strengthened. Having a Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification can be useful in showing employers or clients that you are skilled in this area.

Of course, this list is not exhaustive, and there are many other certifications and abilities that will also be useful in your cybersecurity career. For IT professionals in the project management line, getting a PRINCE2 Foundation certification or PMP certification would also be beneficial in equipping you with a covetable set of skills.

Your goal of becoming a cybersecurity professional is not too far away if you have some of these qualifications and abilities. Don’t wait – pick up these skills today!