photo credit:StartACyberCareer

Getting started in cyber security

Dear cybersecurity newbies, this is a little guide for your cybersecurity journey, I understand how overwhelming and confusing it can be!!!! this is why I wrote this.

So What is and why cyber security? Ultimately, it comes down to having a definite vision of your goals. Cybersecurity is the practice of deploying people, policies, processes, and technologies to protect organizations, their critical systems, and sensitive information from cyber-attacks. (Perhaps I need to explain what a cyber-attack is…) A cyber attack means any malicious or unauthorized attempt to disrupt, damage, or gain unauthorized access to computer systems, networks, or digital devices.

Simple concepts are not always straightforward, so you need to simplify them using an analogy to make your point.
I will compare cyber security to a house. Consider your computer network/devices to be your home. Similar to how your network/device stores important data, our house contains our valuable possessions. We are all conscious that we do not want just anyone to enter our homes without permission. They might simply take our property and engage in a variety of unpleasant activities. perhaps throw a party at our expense(lol). Not a good one right? The wise thing for the house owner to do is to secure the property, so we want to look into securing it well enough that burglars will bypass your home in pursuit of an easier target down the street. To protect ourselves, we use locks ( passwords), security cameras (security logging), and guard dogs (your firewall) as they will defend against people/things they don’t recognize.

Why cyber security?

Here are several compelling reasons to consider learning cybersecurity: whether you want to do so for personal use, to start a new one, or to advance in your career :

• Let’s face it; we live in a digital world. The internet, mobile computing, and electronic media have started taking over our work, personal, and financial lives. As a result, we are more exposed than ever to malicious attacks, privacy invasions, fraud, and other threats. This is why having a secure and well-organized digital world depends so heavily on cybersecurity.
• It is estimated that between 2019 and 2023, cyber crimes would cost the world $5.2 trillion, necessitating a $10 billion global investment in cyber-security measures by 2027 to guard against such catastrophic losses. It means the job pay is good and increasing
• According to reports, more than 3.5 million cybersecurity jobs are open worldwide. Information technology, healthcare, finance, communications, the industrial sector, etc. are all affected, there aren’t enough skilled workers to meet the demand, so they need you!!!
• Not only large businesses and organizations are impacted. it only takes five minutes to hack a device connected to the internet, so cyber attack effects are felt in the physical and digital worlds.
• Cybersecurity extends beyond safeguarding individuals and businesses; it holds significant implications for national security, so here is an opportunity to be a real-life superhero.
• Personal reasons like the Continual acquisition of new knowledge, and working to comprehend new technologies, then You’ll constantly face new obstacles and be presented with a wide range of opportunities in cybersecurity.

Explanations of commonly misunderstood terms and FAQs regarding cybersecurity.

• Hacking is an activity that seeks to compromise a digital system.
• Phishing is a type of social engineering conducted using email, telephone, or text messages by an attacker posing as a trustworthy entity to obtain sensitive information or data.
• Information security is the umbrella under which you find cyber security and other types of security.
• Penetration testing is a career path in cybersecurity that has to do with authorized attempts to find and exploit vulnerabilities in a computer system. This is different from ethical hacking. This difference will be discussed when we talk about the different career paths in cybersecurity.
• FAQ: “If you need to learn a programming language to kick off?” the answer is NO!!
• FAQ: ”Cyber security is hard. It’s all about technical stuff and hacking.” Not all. GRC, risk analysis, and other less technical career paths prove this wrong.

Requirements to begin with?

What to learn:

Whether self-learning or a boot camp, here is the basics you need to understand before picking a niche in cybersecurity.

• Networking and system fundamentals; IP addresses, Network hubs, network topology, switches and cables, Routers and firewalls, TP/IP. port numbers, OSI model, etc. Networking knowledge is vital in cybersecurity to understand network infrastructure, identify network-based attacks, and implement appropriate security measures. Here is networking simplified.
• Operating systems; Linux, Windows, and macOS
• Security fundamental; intro to cyber security, Malware, CIA triad, threat actors, cryptography.

Learning platforms and beginner-friendly courses with free certifications to kick off with:

• Try Hack Me: introduction to Cyber security,pre-security, and Complete beginner
• cisco
• Fortinet
• IBM
• ISC2
• Cybrary
• Great learning

Community to join to get more guides:

• cybersec haven
• cyblackorg
• diary of hackers
• young cisco network
• cybersafe foundation

for females

• cyber girls
• she secures
• Tech4Dev
• women’s cyberjutsu

Security professionals to follow:
There are many experts in this industry, but this would do for starters, we can talk about other professionals and their specialties later :

Confidence Staveley @sisinerdtweets

Ireti Akerele @ireeteh

Sambiat Sadiq @Xymbiz

Caleb Mcmurtrey @sec_studio

Tracy Maleeff @InfoSecSherpa

Eyitemi Egbejule @eeyitemi

Chikodili Udeh @Chenne___

Check the below links for more guidance on getting started

• youtube video about getting started by Chikodili Udeh of Hacktales
• Tweet by Ireti Akerele
• LinkedIn post for a free course and resource by Dan Goldberg.

I hope this article serves as a helpful starting point. If you haven’t already, please take a moment to review the photo I used for this article as it contains additional useful information as well. If you have any questions, feel free to contact me via direct message on Twitter. Don’t forget to follow me for frequent tweets featuring useful cybersecurity tips. watch out for my Medium profile, you can find a collection of other articles specifically tailored for beginners in cybersecurity.

Thank you, from your truly.
Omolara Esther Hamzat (arami)
Cybersecurity/IT Analyst