Joining the Fight Against Cyber Attacks
While the Information Age has created a new world of digital communication and commerce conveniences, there’s clearly a price to be paid. Call it the dark side of the digital revolution. As our world grows more dependent on a global cyber infrastructure, sophisticated cyberattacks have grown into an increasingly urgent danger, not only to individuals and businesses but also to national security.
Anyone paying attention to the news has heard of major data breaches and ransomware hacks launched by criminal hackers and global adversaries alike. It’s a situation that’s been exacerbated by a lack of early action to combat the threat, as well as a critical shortage of well-trained cybersecurity experts.
The impact has increased exponentially over the last five years, but the U.S. has begun taking long-overdue steps to meet the challenge, said Jeb Bowdoin, Cyber Security instructor.
“The risk is extreme, and I don’t think saying that is hyperbole, especially in light of recent geopolitically driven attacks like the Solar Winds supply chain, Colonial Pipeline ransomware, and Microsoft Exchange attacks, to name just a few,” Bowdoin said.” Bowdoin said. “Relations with our principal geopolitical adversaries are not good and don’t seem to be improving.”
Each of our foreign adversaries has invested heavily in significant cyber capabilities that they have used in headline-grabbing attacks, he added. “Add the activities of criminal organizations in the U.S. and around the world, and it is clear the threat is extreme.”
International treaties and agreements addressing cybercrime have been in place for years, but these can have a limited reach. Finding the perpetrators can be difficult, and even when the bad actors can be tracked down, it’s challenging to bring them to justice when the attack comes from outside the U.S.
“Hence, we use economic sanctions and have been enhancing our offensive cyber capabilities to strike back when there is no other recourse,” added Bowdoin. “But the talent shortage is pretty severe, especially given the importance of cybersecurity in our increasingly cyber-dependent nation and the world at large.”
“The certificate program gives students an excellent grounding in cybersecurity fundamentals while also exposing them to information that will help them decide the area of specialty for which they may be best suited.”
Jeb Bowdoin, Cyber Security Instructor
Build don’t buy
Consider that there was an estimated shortage of 377,000 cybersecurity specialists in the U.S. in 2020, according to a Cybersecurity Workforce Study.
But steps are being taken to address the shortage by recruiting and training current employees to move into this space. It’s a strategy launched by labor market analytics firm EMSI Burning Glass called “Build Don’t Buy: A Skills-Based Strategy for Solving the Cybersecurity Talent Shortage.”
To fill the need, companies would recruit internally from their IT departments and other areas, “including non-technical ones, to find enough candidates,” Bowdoin said. “Employees with the needed aptitude and motivation will have opportunities to change their career paths to cybersecurity. After transitioning, workers would need some on-the-job training while they also support real cybersecurity operations.”
It can be an attractive opportunity for current professionals to pivot to this fulfilling and consequential career, with the potential for a substantial bump in salary. Newly minted cybersecurity specialists can expect a median annual salary of $103,000, with highly experienced pros earning $160,000 or more in 2019, according to EMSI Burning Glass. And cybersecurity positions are projected to grow about 30% percent from 2020 to 2030.
With an abundance of open positions, cybersecurity offers a clear career path for current employees looking to switch careers, as well as first-time graduates. And the UCI Cyber Security certificate program can be a perfect entry point.
Fighting the cyberwar
The program can lead to opportunities in virtually any industry — most notably healthcare, government, finance, and eCommerce. Students learn to diagnose, manage, and resolve all manner of complex cyber-threats while gaining a strong background in business continuity planning in the event of a major disaster or breach. Moreover, the curriculum prepares candidates to potentially obtain Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification.
“The certificate program gives students an excellent grounding in cybersecurity fundamentals while also exposing them to information that will help them decide the area of specialty for which they may be best suited,” Bowdoin said. “And like most professions today, there are many areas of specialization.”
Professionals from an array of industries might find their skills highly transferable, even though they aren’t of a technical nature. It’s also worth noting, Bowdoin said, that cybersecurity has been attracting a growing number of women in a traditionally male-dominated field.
“It’s easy to see how some other professions map to these categories and worker interest,” he added. “For instance, somebody working in law enforcement might focus on the ‘investigate’ category, which includes the specialties of cyber investigation and digital forensics. Workers interested in cybersecurity careers should look at the National Initiative for Cyber Education’s (NICE) Learner Resources web page for information on required skills for various specialties.”
The stakes are high, and steps are being taken at the highest government levels to fight cyberattacks. The Biden administration launched stringent security guidelines to help protect national and economic security. And the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency (CISA) recently issued a binding directive for federal agencies “to drive urgent and prioritized remediation of vulnerabilities that are being actively exploited by adversaries.”
To be sure, cyber warfare is seen as a major threat on many fronts, one that requires intense preparation and vigilance, not to mention thousands more cybersecurity specialists. CISA notes that there were over 18,000 vulnerabilities identified in 2020 alone.
“As a Service Academy graduate, naval officer, and Department of Defense contractor for 20-plus years, my perspective is certainly colored by my military background,” Bowdoin said. “People working on the front lines of cybersecurity are fighting a mostly unseen cyber war that is being waged 24/7 all over the world. Criminals, nation-states, and plain old hacktivists are toiling away to get unauthorized access to proprietary systems — national security systems, banks, and even your home security system.”
Learn more about the Cyber Security Certificate Program.