In recent years, the number of cyber attacks and leaks of confidential information has increased by several times. As new cybercrime cases get mentioned in the press more and more often, it becomes clear that there's an acute need for cyber security-oriented professionals among organizations.
It's no surprise that information security analysts have been taking leading positions for several years now, according to statistics of Best Jobs U.S. News Ranking. This specialty is believed to occupy the fifth place in the ranking of the best technological vacancies of 2020 and will be included in the top 20 STEM-professions, according to forecasts.
Meanwhile, experts are discussing the duration of the cybersecurity crisis caused by a shortage of hands and heads, and predict "the top 5 jobs in the cybersecurity area that will bring thousands of dollars."
The world is changing, and so are higher education perceptions. Today, it's unnecessary to spend 4-5 years at a university in case you think to become a specialist in any professional sphere. It's enough to have self-discipline, to be aware of your goals, and have access to the Internet.
Often during their university years, a person gets applied skills and doesn't particularly understand how to put acquired knowledge into practice. In this case, online courses can help systemize large amounts of information. Depending on a course, a student will be able to apply the gained knowledge in practice (for example, a simulated threatscape like Hacktory) and understand the direction to move. Some courses offer an internship program after a successful completing of a final test.
Apart from that, there are 5 other reasons to take a cybersecurity course.
1. Convenience
One of the advantages of distance learning is that it does not bound students to any exact place and is suitable for people who cannot attend full-time classes for some reason. For example, offline learning requires extra time separate from the main job or other classes: not only will the student have to adjust his schedule to a study curriculum, but he also will waste time on getting to the particular place.
With online learning, a student can choose their study schedule on their own, taking into account working time and workload. Do not forget that each person has their own rhythm and speed of information perception. Online courses allow you to return to the topic at any time or to re-watch the lesson video, where the speaker, for instance, conducts a comprehensive analysis of information security incidents. Such an opportunity is a significant advantage for the IT sector, and it increases the chances of successful training completion. As for offline learning, the pace of learning in a group is set by a teacher or tutor, and students don't have an opportunity to re-listen to the material. The teacher needs to fit the course program in a certain period of time while the students have to adapt to this pace, which can negatively affect the training quality.
2.Great variety of courses
A boring monotonous lecture (this format of presentation is typical for university education) is unlikely to help improve practical skills as well. At the same time, when taking an online course, you can combine different types of material feed, for example, videos, texts, or tests.
In addition to that, new trends in education, such as gamification or immersive learning, are gaining popularity and are increasingly used in online courses. Such formats make the studying process exciting and allow you to pay more attention to complex topics. Gamification is also a powerful motivation tool: scores, rating tables, and a story scenario engage people of all ages into the learning process.
3.Demand for Cyber Security Professionals
The never-ending process of adapting programs in such a dynamic environment is very difficult, and there's a need for young IT specialists. Many of them are faced with the illusion that a university degree is the end of their studies. In reality, this is only the beginning, since in order to become a true professional in the information security sphere, you need to constantly improve your skills.
There is a huge variety of books, lectures, and educational platforms with courses for every taste - both for beginners and more experienced learners. It is of great importance that after passing an online course a student is issued a certificate confirming the successful program completion. And as for an employer, the certificate is a "candidate's desire to develop" confirmation.
4.Field of constant change
Every information technology aspect goes hand in hand with cybersecurity, and focusing on security as a core profiling opens up a world of opportunities. From cybercrime investigations to risk assessment and application security, this sphere provides the broadest choice for IT professionals.
Cybersecurity of organizations is the next decade main trend. But still, today there is a huge shortage of specialists in the industry and a huge number of vacancies. That said, it is expected that by 2022 in quantitative terms this figure will reach an impressive 1.8 million people worldwide.
If you are already an IT specialist, be it a developer, programmer, architect, or system administrator, and the security area seems attractive to you, you may be interested in Pentester training. At the moment, there is a huge number of courses, and you will probably be able to find the ones that are right for you, regardless of your previous experience, employment, and location.
5.Cost
The main advantage of online courses is their low cost (comparing with the cost of one semester at the university). However, the most important resource is not money, but time. As mentioned above, IT is a rapidly changing field, and you need to be quite flexible in order to remain in demand. During the period of 4-5 years, when a person takes the university course, global changes are taking place. This results in a situation when some of the knowledge provided by the university becomes irrelevant. Thus, graduates do not have skills applicable to the current situation in the sphere of IT and often regret the years they spent. An average online course lasts 1.5 to 2 months, while the course program can introduce new technologies into the learning process.
To sum up, online education is an excellent option for people who are already working and want to change their activity field. This is a promising option for students without experience in the specialty. And this is an excellent opportunity to get valuable knowledge in a short time and even absolutely free, as well as to expand your CV.
Online courses are especially relevant now when the whole world is in quarantine. The virus will go away, but the knowledge will remain. Therefore, it is worth thinking about training in such a fast-growing field as cybersecurity. IT specialists are in demand even in a crisis, and you do not have to leave the house and break self-isolation.
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