India’s digitally connected population is one of the largest in the world. A combination of young population, cheapest bandwidth costs globally, and the rise of indigenous content have driven the adoption even faster. This massive growth has come with cyber security challenges. According to a report by Symantec, India ranks among the top five countries to be affected by cybercrimes.
This is because regulators have been unable to provide legal and technical standards for data protection. There is no unified architecture that can assess and mitigate threats to the nation’s cybersecurity. As individuals and organisations, we aren’t very aware of cybersecurity threats.
But the biggest challenge is a dearth of talent; we just don’t have enough people trained for the job. A study conducted by the Data Security Council of India and ISACA pegged India’s cybersecurity needs at about 1.5 million professionals. The necessity of WFH is straining the existing cybersecurity professionals as they assist with tasks like equipping mobile workforces. Simultaneously, cyberattacks targeting individuals and organisations have risen considerably.
Top skills
Cloud Security: According to infoworld, 92% of organisations are already in the cloud and Gartner predicts close to 20% growth in cloud adoption. Therefore, cloud security skills are sought after to ensure that the data stored through the computing platforms stay secure.
Threat Intelligence: Every day 5,60,000 new pieces of malware are detected. With complex malwares getting launched, threat intelligence skills have been in demand.
Endpoint Security and Perimeter Security: As the organisations continue to operate remote workforce, endpoint security too has become an important point.
Risk Management: With organisations adopting a plethora of devices, software and endpoints, risk-based prioritisation of assets gain prime importance. The most critical assets should be secured first, in order to contain the impact of the attack. The risk management skill-set would include synchronised and reasonable use of assets to reduce, assess and possible impacts of untoward happenings.
Courses and Certification
A Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science is the best starting point. Opt for additional certification courses being offered by both government institutes and private colleges and internationally recognised certifications like the ISC (2) and Certified Information Systems Manager (CISM) from bodies such as ISACA and EC-Council. Here are the top five courses:
CompTIA Security+: This helps aspirants enter various job roles like security specialist, system/network/security administrator, security engineer, security consultant, junior IT auditor/ penetration tester and IT manager.
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH): This certification is much in demand and helps the individual gain the ethical hacker’s knowledge and also ensures that it complements the industry standards.
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP): Meant for experienced security professionals, it helps candidates to validate their capability to create, execute and manage a good cybersecurity programme.
Certified Information Systems Manager (CISM): Individuals certified in CISM are able to apply their skills in security risk management, programme development and management, governance and incident management and response
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA): This globally recognised certification validates the IT auditor’s skills-set and knowledge around vulnerability detection. IT auditors, audit managers, security professionals/consultants should get the CISA credential.
The writer is the Co-founder and CEO of Sequretek
