A Career in Cybersecurity: What is required?

By David Gewirtz

By 2021, the worldwide need for cybersecurity professionals is expected to reach six million jobs. The gotcha is that analysts expect only 4.5 million people will be able to do the work. This shortfall of 1.5 million jobs presents an opportunity for anyone with the skills, resume, and credentials to meet the need.

So workers are in high demand, the jobs pay well, and they’re important and critical to safeguarding our society. This is a growing, thriving career that may appeal to many of you.

Keep in mind, however, that cybersecurity (and IT in general) do not involve the same skill set as computer science. Traditional computer science is primarily programming — designing code to accomplish specific tasks. Cybersecurity can involve programming, but it involves far more knowledge about how computer systems work, where to find the weaknesses, a deep understanding of exploit technology, and a lot of statistical analysis. That said, if you’re going to design unbreakable encryption (or crack unbreakable encryption), you’re going to need deep education in computer science and math, because you’re dealing with everything from stats to finite automata.

Hiring practice is also all over the map. Generally, cybersecurity hiring managers require 4-year college degrees. Many others require experience and industry standard certifications.

There is some concern among many folks I talk with about education. Many of the young people I know who want to get into...