Starting my Cyber Security Journey

First steps to the Cybersecurity path

You should always expect something in programming to be easy. Never.

And why, you may ask. Why should I think that? Well, for a simple reason: learning in depth.

I am studying and focused on a Cybersecurity career now, as it would be an interesting area for the near future, and someone in the technology field must find a path to follow with Information Technology.

Yes! As IT has so many areas, you need to keep updated to find your road inside the area, as it will help you redirect all your efforts, study time, and resources.

To start on this journey, I talked to a friend of mine, he has much more background in the technology area than me, has a master’s degree in Data Science and Machine Learning, and will start a Ph.D. soon. So, we spoke about my career until that moment, my experiences, academic background, he performed overall mentoring, to be more specific. Then, after analyzing all the information I provided, he pointed out an obvious thing that I didn’t realize before: I had no certification. Not a single one.

It became clear that I might start to study for a certification as soon as possible! So he gave me some tips to help me understand all certification types in Cybersecurity, and what each one of them will demand from me. The best initial tip was to search for jobs on LinkedIn and see what was the most required certification in the field. The most famous popped up, and I started to search for preparatory courses (free, if possible) to sharpen my skills for these new challenges.

That was how I found the ISC2 website, and their “Official ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity Online Self-Paced Training”, a preparatory course with 5 chapters, to obtain their ISC2 certification exam. The course is great, with background storytelling, examples, videos, and a bunch of great resources. Oh, and their certification exam is free.

They also have these training programs:

• Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)

• Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

• Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)

• Certified Secure Software Lifecycle Professional (CSSLP)

And another three more. I am organizing myself for the next steps after the ISC2 Certified in Cybersecurity, but already found a roadmap for the next challenges.

I will write more about the ISC2 website, courses, and other certifications, but, for now, I am glad of my small steps, as I walk toward my main goals.

Resources

ISC2 Training Website - https://www.isc2.org/training/online-self-paced