Main image of article Cybersecurity Skills: Vital Role in These 10 Tech Jobs

It’s no secret that companies all over the world are putting greater emphasis on cybersecurity skills. The costs of a potential data breach are astronomical: not only will customers abandon a company that lost their data, but a government could potentially level massive fines. In light of that, it’s no wonder that more firms want technologists with working knowledge of cybersecurity principles.

Even if you’re not interested in cybersecurity as a full-time profession, it’s becoming clear that knowing at least some cybersecurity skills can translate into expanded job opportunities. Cybersecurity skills are popping up more and more in job postings for a variety of roles, including software developer and project manager. But which roles? And what percentage of those jobs ask for cybersecurity skills of some sort?

For answers to those questions, we turned to Burning Glass, which collects and analyzes millions of job postings from across the U.S. We wanted to explore:

  • Which tech jobs often feature a cybersecurity component.
  • Percentage of job postings requesting cybersecurity skills.
  • How much those jobs are slated to grow over the next 10 years.
  • Minimum education level.

Here’s the resulting chart:

What conclusions can we draw from this? If you’re a network/systems administrator, computer systems engineer/architect, or a network engineer/architect, there’s a very good chance that your next job will require you to have a skills cluster associated with cybersecurity. 

Among the other jobs on this list, fewer job postings ask for cybersecurity skills; nonetheless, having those skills could become a valuable differentiator as you hunt for your next position. When trying to decide between candidates who are roughly equal in terms of skills and experience, companies will likely opt for the one who also comes with working knowledge of cybersecurity principles, especially if they’re going to manage a database, help architect the company’s IT infrastructure, or build its applications.

While Burning Glass cites a Bachelor’s degree as the educational “floor” for many of these positions, those with a growing interest in cybersecurity skills should explore obtaining certifications that can help establish their security bona fides with future employers. Here are a few popular ones:

Certified Information Systems Security Professional – CISSP
An advanced-level credential offered by the ISC2 (International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium). 

Certified Ethical Hacker – CEH
CEH an intermediate-level certification administered by EC-Council (International Council of E-Commerce Consultants). 

Certified Information Security Manager – CISM
The Certified Information Security Manager certification was introduced in 2003 and is administered by the Information Systems Audit and Control Association – ISACA.

CompTIA Security+
CompTIA Security+ is approved by the United States Department of Defense and is compliant with the standard for ISO-17024.

SANS GIAC Security Essentials – GSEC
GSEC is an entry-level credential and is offered by GIAC and is designed to validate the candidate’s understanding of information security concepts and terminology.

Meanwhile, research firm CompTIA reported that 25 percent of companies are looking for significant improvement in cybersecurity skill sets, while 64 percent said moderate improvement is required. Those numbers may only increase in 2020 and beyond, as firms confront rising issues such as overworked DevOps teams, increasingly sophisticated internal and external threats, and the need to protect intellectual property at all costs.  

Even if you’re not actively involved in cybersecurity, in other words, it’s well worth paying attention to whatever’s going on in the security realm—it could have a direct impact on how you do your job. Get familiar with cybersecurity skills however you can.