How to Become an Information Security Specialist

This material is part of the webinar "How to become an information security specialist" hosted by Alexander Klasanov. You can see the whole webinar by following the link.

Can anyone become an information security specialist?

The answer is "no", not everyone. There are 3 main requirements for future information security specialists:

1. The first and basic requirement is to understand technology. "Technology" refers to the basic principles of technology creation, protocol management, ports, how technology works together, how information is exchanged, and so on. In practice, IT people become Security people over time.

What is the difference between IT people and people involved in information security?

People who deal with information security are definitely IT people, and they also have a specific way of thinking.

2. Specific thinking is the second requirement. The goal of system administrators and developers is to create technology or make technology work the right way. Contrary to this understanding, the goal of information security professionals is to see how they can "break" them. This is the specific attitude that is required of them.

Therefore, in addition to knowledge of information technology, you must have this attitude, focused on creating and solving problems related to the use of technology.

Why create problems? Because hackers, in fact, do that. They compromise certain services, applications, technologies. You, as information security professionals, must prevent technology from being compromised.

3. The third requirement is to undergo specialized training such as CISSP, CEH, CompTIA Security+ and others.

See also: Which areas does information security cover?

What are the career opportunities in information security?

Career development in the field usually has 2 directions.

One is to start as an operational IT professional and move on to security. Initially, you can deal with more operational things – monitoring, installation of security devices and technologies, their configuration, management and integration of security technologies. With the development of your skills, knowledge and interests, it is quite likely that you will move on to the management part.

Management is related to the organization of information security in a company. This includes the creation of rules, procedures, practices, which, when imposed in an organization, create a basic level of security, which largely prevents the problems of information security.

The second direction is to become an external consultant, i.e. to provide security services on behalf of your organization to other organizations. Or be an internal security specialist to take care of the information security of a particular organization.

If information security is of interest to you, the CompTIA Security + course will prepare you for this career change. To learn more about the training, follow the link.