People trained and educated in modern cyber security protocols earn approximately fifty percent more per year in salary on average than workers in other professions. The best online cyber security courses help prepare you for such opportunities. What is cyber security? What types of jobs are available to people with a cyber security degree?
Cyber security jobs are increasing in demand. This increase is partially due to a parallel surge of cyber attacks combined with the improved skills of modern cyber criminals. The COVID-19 pandemic forced many U.S. employees to work from home in 2020. This increase in work-from-home jobs, combined with the use of Telehealth video conferencing services to safely facilitate many clinical/medical appointments, is expected to maintain its elevated status in 2021.
Both work-from-home and Telehealth scenarios rely on remote digital technology to function. Cyber security positions are required to operate and protect these services from the rapidly increasing number of cyber attacks. Earning a cyber security degree or certificate is a viable way to secure your career and long-term income potential. Read on for important information about the best cyber security courses online today.
Cyber Security 101
Cyber security consists of several primary functions and descriptions. It is a vocational umbrella term for a variety of job titles in the field. It is an overall security concept as well as it is a specific type of security protocol. Most importantly, cyber security is perhaps an integral part of keeping your personal data and information safe, while simultaneously protecting the nation from malicious criminal cyber attacks.
One of the many important functions of cyber security is the protection and recovery of data stored online or in corporate/private databases. It is also designed to digitally patrol computer and telecommunication networks for active and potential threats. This function is applicable to common smart-technology-enabled devices as well as advanced computer systems inside the Pentagon.
Cyber attacks occur at a frequency of approximately one every forty seconds. Some attacks happen locally and on smaller levels. Others occur on national and global scales. For example, reports according to the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) indicate Russia is preparing for future cyber attacks by commandeering control of routers and internet service providers (ISPs) operated by government and private sector organizations. Cyber security involves the detection and prevention of such attacks prior to them adversely impacting and/or endangering multitudes of people.
How Cyber Attacks Impact People Everywhere
The anticipated targets of the alleged Russia attacks are expected to be power plants and power grids. A successful large-scale attack of this nature on the U.S. would create chaos and damage leading to likely injury and even possible death. While this is extreme, it is also an unfortunately tangible example of how cyber attacks are capable of impacting people everywhere.
There are countless other types of cyber attacks, which do not involve potential loss of life but still affect multitudes of people. Attacks on a major banking system, for example, would create financial burden on both the bank and its customers. Even though customers’ money inside banks is federally insured (to a certain amount), losing access to debit cards, checking/savings accounts and general use of personal money for even one day would be debilitating to many people. 2020 saw a massive increase in the use of Telehealth services in the U.S. and around the world. Approximately twenty-five percent of U.S. workers are now working from home using remote online systems. More then thirty-six million U.S. workers are projected to work from home by 2025. This places a lot of personal information in the hands of online video conferencing services, most of which must be recorded due to HIPPA and other such laws and regulations. The increase in digital convenience born out of tragic COVID-19-related necessity brings with it a paralleled increase in the risk of cyber security attacks on everyday people. This is merely one case-in-point example of why cyber security jobs are so important today.
Why Cyber Security Jobs Are So Important Today
Cyber security jobs have been important since their inception. They are more important today for several significant reasons. Cyber attacks in the U.S. are not only increasing in frequency, they are increasing in efficacy. From breaches and attacks on government agencies to the repeated hacking of T-Mobile databases, 2020 saw an increase in personal, business, government and military information being compromised.
Cyber security employees have the important collective job of preventing cyber attacks from occurring. The modern world is highly digitized. Almost every situation now has some kind of digital footprint due to GPS tracking on smart phones, the prevalent use of mobile apps for transferring money, making purchases and more. Passwords, medical information, top-secret intelligence, financial account information and more are all at risk. Google Chrome itself prompts every user to accept or decline permission for Google to store passwords and credit card numbers when logging into accounts or making online purchases. Most people do not even think twice about the implications of this almost automatic feature. Many people also do not realize this feature is capable of being disabled.
Political and international adversaries also use cyber attacks to outmaneuver or virtually debilitate opponents in various ways. Cyber security jobs are so important today because they comprise the new front lines in the battles against multiple unseen hackers and attackers. The methods of implementing effective cyber security strategies have changed, however. Previously, cyber security was implemented and managed by information technology (IT) staff. Stacks of then-modern technological devices were placed in a layered hierarchy across the vulnerable network. These stacks also included firewalls and additional anti-virus/anti-spyware software programs. The problems with this approach today are multiple. The main problem is hackers and cyber terrorists have advanced their techniques well beyond previous protective cyber security efforts and equipment. Breaking through firewalls takes almost no effort at all for skilled cyber criminals. Modern cyber security jobs require a new type and level of talented employee. The jobs require a more intense, updated level of training. They also require a specialized staff beyond the skill sets of general IT staff. Adequate training for these specialized modern employees is obtained by studying from the top online cyber security courses available.
Top Online Cyber Security Courses in 2021
There are free and paid online cyber security courses available in 2021. Free courses have an obvious appeal, although the credibility and quality of the provided information are not always verifiable. Affordable certificate programs are available in limited, specific areas of study, however. Certificates are available for Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP) and Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) courses. There are also certificates for Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) training and many more related subjects.
Other courses exist as accredited cyber security degree programs. Associate, bachelor’s, master’s and Ph.D./Doctorate degree courses are all available online. While many cyber security courses provide quality training, some rise above the others for credibility, high job placement percentages, reputation and more. The top online cyber security courses in 2021 are:
Certificate Programs
- Bellevue University Cybersecurity Certificate of Completion.
- Federal Virtual Training Environment (FedVTE).
- American Military University (AMU).
Degree Programs
- Maryville University Bachelor’s in Cyber Security.
- University of North Dakota Bachelor’s in Cyber Security.
- Johns Hopkins Master’s Degree in Cybersecurity.
- NorthCentral University Ph.D. in Cybersecurity.
Types of Jobs Available for Cyber Security Graduates
As stated above cyber security is often used as an umbrella term for a wide range of available job types within the field. This is in fact due to the literal wide range of available cyber security job types available. Entry, mid and advanced level cyber security jobs exist as is par for the course with most other career fields. Salaries also vary based on the intensity of your job type combined with your experience level and the company for which you work. For example, a position running point on a CIA cyber security task force is likely to pay more than that of an IT technician/cyber security analyst at a credit union having only three local branches.
Popular entry-level cyber security jobs include IT consultant, network engineer, systems administrator, cyber mitigations engineer and more. Mid to advanced level cyber security jobs include incident response agent, cyber intelligence analyst, security technician, data privacy specialist, cybersecurity architect, chief information security officer and more. Additional types of jobs available for cyber security graduates include:
- Application development security.
- Threat intelligence agent.
- Risk management consultant.
- Health information security agent.
- Cloud security expert.