W4 430 DQ1 UG

B Cody

Hello Professor Ligon and Class,

    Since I am most interested in the Cybersecurity area of the IT field, I have chose 3 paths for the three different Cybersecurity jobs. From the website that I was researching this information from, they would mention that for all of the listed Cybersecurity career paths, a degree is not needed. More specifically, “While you don’t necessarily need a degree to get a job in cybersecurity, having some form of structured training might accelerate your path toward a job.”(Coursera, 2022). Personally, I do not see how having an IT or Cybersecurity degree could not help out in finding a good job quicker but they describe certifications as being very useful in getting a job. First, Cyber Security Engineering and Architecture requires someone to gain certificates, such as the CompTIA Security+, Systems Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP), Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP), and Google Professional Cloud Security Engineer certificates. After first becoming a Cybersecurity engineer, you may then move up to become a cybersecurity architect. The next career path that I found was an incident responder. The seemed like a cool job as they help out law enforcement find cybercrime and if you were good at it you could catch and remove any cybercrime that has happened to your own personal computers. The certificates recommended to be wanted for this position consist of the GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH), EC-Council Certified Incident Handler (ECIH), Certified Computer Examiner (CCE), and Certified Computer Forensics Examiner (CCFE) certificates. Lastly, the route of penetration testing, or ethical hacking, had a different set of certificates to obtain. This seems like a good route because it describes outsmarting the bad guys and being able to implement fixes or provide advice for fixing upper level vulnerabilities. To be sought after for this, you would need certificates such as the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH), CompTIA PenTest+, GIAC Penetration Tester (GPEN), and the Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP) certificate. 

C Jessica

Prof. Ligon, 

    The IT and Cybersecurity fields have been steadily increasing in number and demand, and since the Covid-19 pandemic hit, has blown up exponentially with the popularity of remote work and the increasing need for network security (Indeed Editorial Team, 2021).

Information Security Analysts are generally tasked with the responsibilities of planning and implementing security measures intended to protect company networks and other computer systems. Information Security Analysts are vital to a company’s network security as they are meant to both monitor for current known threats, but to also perform constant research on new threats and vulnerabilities. They are also generally tasked with creating procedural documents in the case of emergencies. The general requirements for this position include a bachelor’s degree in information technology or a closely related field, the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification or other certifications involving penetration testing or system auditing, and it is recommended that someone in this position have at least 2 years in a similar or related occupation. For soft skills, it is recommended that the individual possesses good problem solving skills, analytical skills, and is highly detail-oriented (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021). 

Network and Computer Systems Administrators are responsible for the overall day-to-day operation and maintenance for the network. Their general focus is the physical hardware and software of the network, which includes the computer systems, necessary applications and programs, and the physical components to the LANs and WANs attached to the network. Depending on their experience, they may also be tasked with designing and analyzing network models and then implementing those changes. The general requirements for this position include a bachelor’s or associate's degree in information technology or a closely related field, for certification, it is generally required that the Administrator be certified with the products they use to ultimately prove competency and knowledge of recommended practices with those products, and it is recommended that someone in this position have some experience in a similar or related occupation, but ultimately the certifications should be able to prove competency. For soft skills, it is recommended that the individual possesses good problem solving skills, analytical skills, and communication skills (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2021).