The digital age has been a huge boon to the business world and has led to many technological developments. It has given a futuristic look to the entire landscape and aligned many business processes, making them efficient and productive.
Though on the flip side, it has also exposed many vulnerabilities such as the rise of security attacks and hackers in the current times. This situation has led to a huge demand for cyber-security experts.
So, if you are keen to pursue a career in this path, then you have made the right decision. A diploma in cyber-security will help you achieve your professional goals and will also erase all your confusion, including addressing the dilemma cyber experts have to code.
Who is a cyber-security analyst?
The job of a cyber-security analyst is to protect the organization from all cyber threats such as – ransomware, malicious attacks, phishing, and more. They also put in place a strong security set-up that actively looks out for such attacks and thwarts them before they can impact the business. A cyber-security expert is vital for the organization as safeguarding sensitive information that falls into the wrong hands can impact the business adversely.
Do cyber-security analysts code
If you are looking for entry-level jobs in the field of cyber-security then you don’t need coding skills. Rather this is not a mandatory skill that employers actively look for in a cyber-security analyst.
Having said that, programming knowledge is otherwise very useful and can certainly open doors to further opportunities for you. Also, as you progress in your career and make the transition from entry-level to upper-level profiles, coding skills can certainly be of great use to you.
However, a cyber-security analyst must possess some additional soft skills. While technical skills like database management, risk management, and threat detection are covered in the program syllabus, you have to implement some useful transferable skills as well that will help you do well in your career.
Cyber security soft skills
Some useful cyber-security soft skills that an analyst needs to have are:
Paying attention to details
Being a cyber-security analyst is a technical job and also one that is very vital to the organization. You cannot leave any room for mistakes as that can heavily cost the company, both in terms of money and also the brand image. Hence, you need to stay vigilant and look for any potential issue that looks suspicious. Only then can you expose all threats and look for a way to curb them before it’s too late.
Analytical thinking
Logical thinking is certainly necessary for a job where you will be required to work on complex systems. Though, along with this you also have to bring in some creative thinking to be able to apply innovative and out-of-the-box solutions to unprecedented challenges.
Communication skills
A cyber-security analyst also needs to have good communication skills as you will have to present complex findings in an engaging and articulate way. Being able to express your ideas clearly will allow you to engage with your team and superiors easily.
This article is written by Nandita Kaushal.
