The Australian Computer Society reports that there is still a severe lack of cyber security specialists in Australia, despite recent attempts to greatly expand the number of these people. There were 134,690 Australians employed in the cyber security sector in 2021, but studies indicate that at least 25,000 more workers are currently required due to the industry’s rapid growth.
This isn’t your typical call to action for those with information technology (IT) skills to be updated, however. A workforce that is cyber literate is essential in every company, according to the Australian Cyber Security Growth Network (AustCyber). As an intern, manager, or board member, you need to be aware of the risks associated with cyberspace. To keep online information safe, it’s critical that we all practice everyday cyber hygiene.
Richard Buckland, a professor of cyber security at UNSW Sydney, strongly emphasizes the importance of cyber hygiene and cyber security experts.
It’s comparable to the gold rush or the moment the Apple shop opens and everything is discounted by half. Cybersecurity affects every aspect of life and is not yet ready. The following categories apply: space travel, global warming, energy, education, privacy, emergency response, military, espionage, finance, consumer, research, government, transportation, social, romantic, corporate, news, art and music, and emergency response. Everything relies on cyber security operating, and at the moment, it is woefully unprepared.
Professor Buckland is assisting UNSW’s Master of Cyber Security program in enhancing our readiness.
The professional landscape in cyber security in Australia
There weren’t actually any cyberpolice to contact to report a cybercrime until lately. That is, until early in 2017, when NSW Police formed the Cybercrime Squad. Building planners faced some difficulties as a result of the novel nature of the job performed by the Cybercrime Squad Commander, Detective Superintendent Matt Craft.
“Police officers asked, ‘Where do you want your dock [for prisoners]?’ while they were constructing our level.We’re cyber, therefore I said, I don’t want a dock. A server room is what I really want,” he said to The Sydney Morning Herald.
It’s likely that they are already considering expanding that server room. Among Australian adults, one in three experienced the pain of cybercrime in 2019. Every ten minutes on average, someone files a cybercrime to the government’s ReportCyber website.
Cybercrimes are happening more often in business. Telstra annually compiles a cyber-health report for Australian businesses. According to data from 2019, 65% of organizations said that a security breach had caused a disruption in the previous year. Web application attacks and phishing were the two most frequent reasons.
Regretfully, this pattern persists up to this point. A software supply chain assault affected 49% of all Australian organizations in 2021 alone, raising concerns about their trustworthiness with their partners and driving up need for strong cyber protection.
This indicates that there is a strong need for cyber security specialists, and the pay packages accordingly reflect this. According to AustCyber’s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan, the average salary difference between cyber security experts and their IT counterparts is $12,000. In positions of management, that premium increases to $20,000. According to Indeed, a cyber security ananalyst of cyber security of $118,547 at entry-level, making cyber security employment quite lucrative.
Technical expertise for jobs in cyber security
Until advancing in his career to join Telstra’s DevOps Security team, Jon-Anthony de Boer worked as a software developer. He began by taking classes on safe coding in a number of languages, including C, C++, Python, Javascript, PHP, and SQL, which are relevant to cyber security. Everywhere he could, he also dove deeply into the cyber security sector.
“I listened to podcasts, read excellent blog posts by people like Tanya Janca, and followed security news from people like Bruce Schneier and Clint Gibler,” de Boer said.
A recent US report highlights the teccodingls that are often absent from the resumes of applicants for cyber security roles. Cyber security professionals benefit from an understanding of the architecture, administration, and management of operating systems in addition to broad programming skills such as de Boer’s.
Graduates in cyber security should try to include all of the following competencies in their resumes:
- Handling and responding to security incidentsÂ
- Architecture for securityÂ
- ProgrammingÂ
- Data protectionÂ
- Intelligence and analyticsÂ
- Testing for penetrationsÂ
- programming abilities, such as mastery of SQL, PHP, JavaScript, C, and C++
Non-technical abilities for jobs in cyber security
“Human behavior is almost always part of the problem,” the government discovered during business engagement for Australia’s Cyber Security Strategy 2020.
Because workers at any level may be misled into clicking on a link, phishing emails are among the most common kinds of cyber assault. ForInteraction cyber security experts need to have strong interpersonal and communication skills.
Furthermore, according to Professor Buckland, one of the top five non-technical talents for cyber security is psychology.
“Having curiosity, which leads to an understanding of how computers, software, and systems work under the hood, and creaInquisitiveness think of new solutions, is important because, unlike most fields, cyber is new every day. Humans lOriginalityevery weakness, bug, exploit, and attack.”
As Professor Buckland put it, “being sceptical is a useful skill. You should be questioning everything and not taking things for granted. You should also have communication, teHeadshipd leadership skills.”
Graduates in cyber security should furthermore include the following non-technical abilities on their resumes:
- Cooperation and teamworkÂ
- CreativityÂ
- Doubt
- CommunicationÂ
- Curiosity
- Leadership
Cybersecurity careers
The statement that a career in cyber security can take you anywhere isn’t hyperbole; experts in this field come from a variety of backgrounds due to the field’s wide skill requirements and universal applicability.
Consider one of these five cyber security jobs.
the head of information security (CISO)
After twenty years in the Royal Australian Navy, Narelle Devine obtained her master’s degrees in computer science and systems engineering at UNSW before taking on the position of CISO.
At the head of the cyber security hierarchy is the Chief Information Security Officer, who is in charge of an organization’s information assets and technology protection strategy, vision, and initiatives.
Ms. Devine oversaw Centrelink’s welfare payments system in her first CISO position at Services Australia (formerly the Department of Human Services), where she was tasked with safeguarding the $190 billion in payments the department makes annually, managing 280,000 daily authentications, and protecting the personal and financial security of 26 million Australians, according to IT News.
As of late, Ms. Devine is now serving as Telstra’s CISO for Asia Pacific, her second CISO position.
Large corporations and government agencies often employ CISOs, like Victoria’s Department of Health and Human Services, which posted an advertisement recently offering a $183,601 compensation for a newly formed position.
Important competencies and educational prerequisites
A CISO is a senior job that takes years of expertise and a wide range of abilities. To become a CISO, you should have the following:
- Strong business management background and in-depth understanding of cybersecurity and information security risksÂ
- strong familiarity with networking and LinuxÂ
- familiarity with industry standards including CERT, COBIT, and ISOÂ
- Knowledge of data privacy laws
- Knowledge of security automation and development, security, and operations (DevSecOps)
A Master of IT Cyber Security is usually required for CISOs, in addition to a variety of non-technical abilities including outstanding communication and commercial acumen.
Cyber security analyst
As the first line of defense in an organization’s cyber security team, cyber security analysts keep an eye on network access via logs and real-time dashboards during calm periods and are prepared to spearhead the reaction in the event of a breach, protecting infrastructure and data from harm.
A variety of technical skills are required of cyber security analysts. Penetration testing involves analyzing networks and systems to find vulnerabilities before hackers do. Computer forensics involves analyzing data from logs and reports to determine when and where breaches have occurred. Reverse engineering is used to determine the threat posed by a bug or malware.
The average income for cyber security analysts is $76,790.
Important competencies and educational prerequisites
A cyber security analyst is often a junior role held by a recent graduate or someone with a few years of industry experience. The following qualifications are necessary to become a cyber security analyst:
- the capacity to investigate and assess new risks to cyber securityÂ
- Knowledge of disaster recovery and aptitude for developing backup plansÂ
- being able to keep an eye on incursions, assaults, and other illicit behaviorÂ
- Knowledge of how to assess and test security goodsÂ
- the capacity to create new security measures or improve current ones
- Understanding of ethical hackingÂ
- the capacity to recognize such vulnerabilities and put encryption and firewalls in place
Typically, graduates require a bachelor’s or master’s degree in IT or cyber security to work as cyber security analysts.
Cybersecurity specialist
Cyber security engineers monitor an organization’s cyber security and provide recommendations for new software, hardware, and procedures. They also design and construct the networks and computer systems that cyber security analysts keep an eye on.
An ordinary day for Helen Oswell, a cyber security engineer at an English firm that creates technological solutions for other organizations, including creating tools and drafting proposals to address customer issues.
“Creating and implementing tools, like working on a vulnerability management tool in a cloud environment, is my favorite aspect of the job,” Ms. Oswell said.
The average income for cyber security engineers is expected to be $98,453.
Important competencies and educational prerequisites
A cyber security analyst and an engineer share some capabilities. To become an engineer in the field, you must possess the following abilities:
- the capacity to organize, carry out, oversee, keep an eye on, and improve security protocols to safeguard organizational data
- Knowledge of security procedures and methods
- the ability to resolve security and network problemsÂ
- Capacity to evaluate and detect vulnerabilities in systems and networksÂ
- Knowing how to react when there is a security breach
- Capacity to communicate with stakeholders throughout the whole organization in order to control and lessen security risksÂ
Typically, graduates need a bachelor’s or master’s degree in engineering, IT, or cyber security to work as cyber security engineers.
expert in cyber security
Kylie McDevitt came to cyber security after working as a radio engineer in the telecommunications industry and earning a Bachelor of Engineering and a Master of Science in Computer Networking. She is currently the director of a security research and engineering team at the Australian Cyber Security Centre (ACSC), having spent years working as a cyber security specialist.
Integrating security into software systems, networks, and data systems during the development phase is one of the main duties of a cyber security specialist. This may entail reviewing security and making recommendations, as well as requiring the programming of specialized defense systems and protocols.
One way Ms. McDevitt keeps her finger on the cyber security pulse is by founding BSides Canberra, Australia’s biggest hacker forum, to feed her enthusiasm for computers and maintain her cyber security abilities.
Important competencies and educational prerequisites
A cyber security expert is often a senior position requiring many years of experience. The following qualifications are necessary to become a cyber security specialist:
- Capacity to implement security throughout software development’s developmental phases
- Knowing where to check for risks and vulnerabilities in software and hardwareÂ
- understanding of IT security infrastructure best practicesÂ
- Knowledge of firewalls
- Capacity to continuously detect and reduce security risksÂ
- the capacity to locate offenders and oversee prosecution when necessaryÂ
Typically, graduates need a master’s degree in cyber security to work as cyber security specialists.
tester for penetrations
In the early days of cyber security, penetration testers were often hackers who made the decision to use their powers for good; these days, they are more likely to study penetration testing and learn how to think like a hacker without actually being one. A hacker forum might be a good place to find a penetration tester, also known as ethical hackers.
Ben Tudor works for Telstra as a Penetration Testing Senior Lead in the Cyber Security team. He began his career in mobile network operations after graduating from electronic engineering school, and he later moved into cyber security. Ben reports that his penetration testing team is involved in projects ranging from big data products to software defined networks and 5G.
The transition to the Internet of Things (IoT) and the creation of new evaluation techniques to match this expanding field are now major areas of concentration, according to Tudor.
The average pay for penetration testers is expected to be $89,711.
Important competencies and educational prerequisites
These abilities are necessary for penetration testers:
- the capacity to test cloud infrastructures and appsÂ
- Knowing how to plan and carry out engineering assaultsÂ
- Understanding how to create penetration testing methodologyÂ
- Capacity to examine code for security flawsÂ
- familiarity with document security and complianceÂ
- the capacity to provide executive and technical reportsÂ
- Knowing how to explain penetration testing results to both technical and non-technical employeesÂ
A master’s degree in cyber security is usually required for graduates who want to work as penetration testers.
We’ll all become experts in cyber security in the end.
Workplaces are being encouraged to adopt cyber hygiene by AustCyber and the Australian Cyber Security Strategy 2020, which Professor Buckland thinks will happen soon.
According to Professor Buckland, “understanding cyber will be part of every job, like using phones and word processors are now. Currently, the biggest growth will be in non-technical, non-specialist roles working in strategy and general governance for organizations of all sizes. Technical expertise is the most obvious and immediate shortfall right now.”
By starting the appropriate course of study now, you may acquire an advantage over cybercriminals and graduate positions in cyber security.
