ALERT ALERT! There is an ongoing cyber attack on your server! 

Did you know that there has been a massive increase in cyber attacks worldwide? This is exactly why the cybersecurity market is seeing explosive growth. In fact, the cybersecurity market reached a staggering $60 billion in 2016 and the figure is expected to double by 2020. 

Why is it more important now than ever before? Everything is online nowadays.

Employees, contractors, and even suppliers want to access enterprise applications anywhere and from any device. 

Protecting enterprise data and infrastructure has become one of the most critical roles of IT thanks to ever-evolving cyber threats and data breaches. 

772,904,991 unique email addresses, over 21 million unique passwords, all recently posted to a hacking forum

Cybersecurity is essential, but a difficult task. Can you imagine how many security layers doesn’t it take to prevent a hacker from intruding your site? You are fighting against someone whose job is to break into a website security system, and any loopholes or weaknesses can be used against you. 

Individuals, organizations, and governments are contributing to cybersecurity measures, but can they really keep up? Here are some major cybersecurity trends that are re-shaping the way we treat personal and corporate data.

Top Cybersecurity Trends

Shortage in Talent

There is a 200,000 workers shortage and this number will only be expected to grow. Open information security analyst positions in South East Asia are staying unfulfilled 73% longer than other engineering positions. There is a quickly growing demand for cybersecurity professionals as Asia’s Digital Transformation is now taking over the corporate sector. 

Cybersecurity skills are one of the highest-paid: the median salary for an IT security analyst is at $94,000 annually.  It’s a promising field for tech talents, and it’s definitely worth tapping into.

How to kickstart your career in cybersecurity.

The essentials.

Which skills are essential for cybersecurity pros? It a trick question since there are plenty of sub-disciplines within the cybersecurity field. 

Cybersecurity specialists should be able to understand the architecture, administration, and management of operating systems and have a deep understanding of things like firewalls and network load balancers. In addition, general programming and analytics skills are usually required.

Here is a list of skills that are essential in the cybersecurity field, according to GetLinks Clients:

Beyond basic requirements, you are expected to think like a hacker to proactively prevent potential breaches

Level up.

Once you are done with the fundamentals, it’s time to show off your cybersecurity expertise. What’s the best way to do so? 

•  Contribute to open source projects

Test your tech skills, get inspiration and support from like-minded people by contributing to an open-source project. We recommend Github for collaborating on all sorts of projects. You can contribute to by submitting issues or contributing actual code. Include projects you contributed to into your resume and use them as a reference point during job interviews.

• Get Certified.

Adding Cybersecurity certificates to your CV can really make a difference. If you don’t have enough work experience, we recommend certificates like CompTIA Security+  to boost your resume. Another well-respected program to enroll in is Certified Ethical Hacker Certification (CEH). It can be pricey and time-consuming to obtain a certificate, but it’s definitely an investment in your future career. 

Stand out.

• Connect with like-minded techies at events

Meetups and events great are great ways to network with fellow cybersecurity pros, grow your skillset and gain valuable insights. It may even open doors to a job opportunity. It can be overwhelming to go out and meet people, that’s why GetLinks Events may be a great place to start. We run networking events and workshops for techies, making networking less awkward one step at a time. 

• Focus on your soft skills

Employers are looking for IT security talents who not only possess strong technical skills but also communication skills, creativity and accountability.  And they find a large gap in soft skills in the market. Find out which soft skills are in demand, and focus on those that need improvement.

Are you ready to kick start your career in the cybersecurity field?