Careers in information Security

Overview and resources

There are a wide range of potential careers in information/cyber security. In the previous lesson
we identified different type of employers - consumers, producers and enforcers. There is a huge
demand for people to enter the information security industry and governments are encouraging
people to enter the profession at various levels - as apprentices, by taking an undergraduate or
graduate degree and by encouraging mid-career changes into security roles.

Here we look at two resources that provide information about information/cyber security careers.
The first is inspredcareers which provides an accessible website that contains descriptions of a
wide range of jobs at different levels from junior through to the industry leaders. Not all jobs
have full descriptions, some do not have video interviews for example, however there is a good
deal of information provided overall.

The second resource is SFIA - Skills Framework for the Information Age - a more formal
resource that has been created over many years and provides an analysis of ICT skills used
widely across the industry. Many of the areas identified in SFIA have a security element and the
number of these has grown significantly over the last decade as security has become ubiquitous.

There are many resources around the world. The US government is putting in place resources to
help develop enough cyber security professionals. For example here are some of the initiatives
and resources in the US, which has probably the most active and extensive resources to promote
cyber security careers and education:

 NICE (National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education) provides a national resource, and
 NICCS (National Initiative Fore Cybersecurity Careers and Studies) from the Department
of Homeland Security.
 CyberSeek - shows cybersecurity pathways - similar to inspired careers.org, but with a
more limited number of careers discussed. CyberSeek has a heat map of cyber security
vacancies across the US.
 Cyber Degrees website provides a set of useful information about cyber security jobs as
well as information on US degree programmes.

Both the UK and the US have certified universities and specific degree programmes in
cyber/information security and identified centres of excellence in research. The UK masters and
undergraduate degrees are certified by GCHQ, see: https://www.ncsc.gov.uk/information/gchq-
certified-degrees.

Penetration testing as a career

In the first video I mention the role of penetration tester. On inspiredcareers.org, Cyber Degrees
and CyberSeek, you will find information about the penetration tester role. In addition there is
also an article on the dark reading website that describes the role. Dark reading is a useful web
site for professionals in security, you may like to browse the site:

Dark reading website

Dark reading article: So you want to be a penetration tester

Dark reading article: so you want to be a security researcher