How should I figure out what job I should do within cybersecurity?

With the Cyber attacks increasing across the globe and as there is huge scarcity of cyber security professionals, it is really a great field to opt for. I started my career as a system administrator and as my career progressed i focused on cyber security as my specialization. Today i am working with a very large Cyber Security organisation and we guide and help our customers really fight the battles with attackers and help them keep safe. Cyber security is really hot topic and keeps on evolving every day / every hour. I keep on learning new stuffs every day and it makes me very happy. If you are really looking at a very exciting career then Cyber security is the place to be

Well, love the enthusiasm with all the questions. Let me try and knock them down one at a time. Marketing - absolutely, Marketing is an essential functional for bringing awareness to customers and in the case of cybersecurity, many people just use the Internet with no idea how their information is access, handled or used by others. People are fearful as well, and distinguishing real threats from fantasy is an important part of the awareness that can be performed working in Marketing with a specific focus in cybersecurity. I personally have held many roles i n cybersecurity because I believe in the mission. Although I started as an engineering manager, I have run quality assurance, been a products manager and a program manager, and even run the Customer and Technical Support organizations, but it all started with a passion to protect people and their data from the bad guys. Like any industry some roles require more skills and/or experience than others, but almost every role has an entry-level position to start from. If you like to battle the bad guys from your keyboard, getting a degree in engineering with experience in programming is the key, Getting the message out in Marketing, as I said earlier, is also an option for those who excel at telling the story and finding the emotional links to customers. If you want to make sure that our solutions are fully operational, a career in quality assurance is available. We have contracts and commitments to adhere to, so legal professionals can have a successful career in cybersecurity as well. As far as what do I do? I run a global operation connecting customers to the answers they seek with their products - be it pricing, billing, installation, usage, renewals and addressing threats and product issues. With social media support, online documents, chat and phone options, and many other avenues, the Norton Support and Services organization is there to provide access to cybersecurity solutions 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.

It's easy to get very tunnel visioned into thinking that each company has a small range of departments whereas it couldn't be further from the truth. There are so many teams and groups within large Cyber security companies so it's easy to either start in a generic team and branch out once you've found an area you either enjoy or excel at or you can keep an eye on vacancies in these companies and look at the job requirements. Then tailor some of the courses & skills you are working on to make sure they fit into these roles. The industry is constantly moving and growing in technology, products and new methods of delivery so keep close to the market & take any chance to gain experience and you'll figure out which area you enjoy the most and build your skills around this.

You have a lot of great answers from my colleagues above. There are so many different roles in the field, and one of the important things to remember is that the industry is changing very rapidly, so roles which exist right now may change in coming years. The best answer is to find what interests you - for instance, if you are interested in the technical aspects, learn what you can about how to secure systems, networks and applications; if you are more creative, learn what you can about marketing, UX and design; if you are interested in the human side, it's a great time to look at human psychology and interactions. With security, understanding why people do what they do is so important to being able to secure the cyber world!

No doubt Cyber Security is a great field with lots of excitement and plenty of job demand right now. I am a sales engineer working for a large Cyber Security software company. Sales Engineering is a fantastic career for someone who loves technology but also loves telling people about it. I started out in a more traditional IT role and stumbled in to this field at a job fair (a good place to go and just find out about jobs even if you aren't expecting to apply for one immediately). Sales Engineers work with customers and potential customers to make sure they understand the solution you are selling and to make sure it will do what the customer expects. I love it because every customer is different and I get paid to learn every day. I went to college for Biology, so I'm proof that you don't always have to know what you want to do from the beginning. My advice is to go to school for something that you are passionate about and then worry about the career afterwards.

Hi Anne! This is a great question, one that I often ask myself as someone who's been in the field a few years but is still young. There is absolutely so much to do and learn in the field - it can be somewhat daunting for those looking to get into cyber workforce. To answer your overall question of how do you figure out what you want to do within the field, I would say to learn about the different roles that exist within cybersecurity and then try out what they do.

Here's some examples:

Malware Analyst: These folks analyze malware, either by examining the code and strings within it (called static analysis) or by executing the malware and seeing what it does (called dynamic analysis). This position is for those who love breaking things down, experiment, and are always excited to find new things.

Intrusion Detection Analyst/SOC Analyst: This is what I do; these are the "detectives" that look for the bad guys getting in. Analysts need knowledge of networking, operating system, and malware principles. These folks are the inquisitive type, always paying attention to details to see what stands out as strange. The best analysts are those who can think like the bad guys.

Pentester: These guys focus on testing the security of websites, web applications, and computer systems by trying to exploit and break into them. This role is very hard on a technical level but is very rewarding. It's for those who love breaking things and then helping to fix it. There are a lot of videos and resources on learning how to do the things that pentesters do.

There are so many different roles in the field, some are technical, some not so much, but I would say there is no harm in learning about them all and see if they strike your fancy. The field is exciting and always changing, so you will never get bored, no matter what path you take.

Good luck on your journey!

My first path out of college was Human Resources, but I fell into CyberSecurity in one of my first jobs initially as a technology recruiter. I didn't study for it in college but got on the job training. After getting bored with recruiting, the company was very small so I got to try different things. They asked me to work in the lab doing some testing. I got really good fast. They put on a contract to test encryption products for the Army and fell in love with technology. I spent the next five years learning about networking and how security played a part in all IT systems. It seemed like a great fit so I went looking for my next job and I went to work for a software company who made security software from there. I have been at Symantec now for 18 years and started as a systems engineer, then sales representative, sales manager and now a director of a national team. I love it! My advice is do what you enjoy and you will have the best job in the whole world!