Explore a Career in Cybersecurity

Getting into cybersecurity can be rewarding and lucrative! In fact, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, information security analysts can make over $100,000 per year. This course will give you the knowledge to help you decide whether a career in cybersecurity is right for you.

The course will start by introducing the basics of cybersecurity. You will learn the types of threats companies face daily and how a cybersecurity specialist can help prepare for and prevent those threats. Finally, the course will cover cybersecurity learning paths and different types of cybersecurity jobs and salaries.

6 Weeks / 24 Course Hrs

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University of Central Florida

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Learning method

Self-Guided

$129

No instructor. Study on your own schedule

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Instructor-Moderated

$129

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Starting June 11 | July 16

Details + Objectives

Course code: cyb

This course explores a career in cybersecurity and reviews various topics, including cybersecurity roles, job requirements, problem-solving techniques, and cybersecurity concepts. This course will help you decide whether a career in cybersecurity is something that aligns with your talents and interests and, if so, the best next steps to pursue this lucrative career path.

What you will learn

Explore cybersecurity as a career path
Identify cybersecurity job roles and industries
Describe the soft skills that cybersecurity professionals need
Explain the threats that cyberattacks pose to modern businesses
Explain the importance of securing information
Define common cybersecurity terms and concepts
Explain the role of secure coding in preventing cyberattacks
Identify the ways that cybersecurity professionals protect a business
Describe the key elements of a security awareness program
Identify employment opportunities and career steps in the cybersecurity field

How you will benefit

Learn if a career in cybersecurity is right for you
Explore the basics of the cybersecurity industry
Discover potential career paths in the cybersecurity field

How the course is taught

Instructor-Moderated or Self-Guided online course
6 Weeks or 3 Months access
24 course hours

Outline

This lesson will introduce the course and give you an overview of cybersecurity and its major components. You will dive into the history and evolution of cybersecurity so you can see how it has grown throughout the years to become a significant business and technology concern. Finally, as you consider a career in cybersecurity, it is essential to understand what education and experience you will need, so you will take a look at those and other requirements, too.

In this lesson, you will learn about the various roles in cybersecurity that you may take on in an organization. You will also examine the industries where cybersecurity is particularly important as well as why it is so important. Then, you will get the scoop on the types of roles and industries you may want to pursue when you enter cybersecurity.

Although you may think of cybersecurity as a purely technical field, cybersecurity professionals also need essential soft skills. We will dive into the important communication skills required when dealing with clients, employees, management, and outside groups. In your cybersecurity career, you will most likely be working on teams, so we will look at teams in the workplace and how important team skills are. We will learn the characteristics of a problem solver. Lastly, you will explore the troubleshooting process and why it is important to follow the steps to identify a problem and correct it now and prevent it in the future.

This lesson will look at the different kinds of cybersecurity risks companies face. You will explore the tools and the data used to discover, identify, and mitigate attack threats. We will take a look at cybersecurity laws and regulations, why they exist, and how they impact cybersecurity.

Hackers and other bad actors can attack various levels of public and private computing. In this lesson, we dive into types of information security that affect all of us, from critical infrastructure vital to the operation of the country to corporate networks, the cloud, and even appliances in our homes through the Internet of Things. We will define critical infrastructure security and explore its parts. We will look at how security works in different areas to help secure our infrastructure. Next, we will examine other ways to protect the things that make our lives easier—and that people often do not realize need protecting.

In this lesson, we will explore the common concepts in cybersecurity and the specialized terminology its professionals use. We will dive into cryptography by defining and showing examples and how it is used. Next, we will explore why obfuscation is important in cybersecurity and the differences between threats and vulnerabilities. Smart businesses have a plan for when attacks happen, so we will look at Incident Response Plans, how they are created, and what they should contain. Finally, we will examine Identity and Access Management (IAM) and the IAM framework—authentication, authorization, and accounting.

This lesson will teach you about the types of threats companies face as they do their day-to-day work. After learning about the types of threats, we will examine how they happen and, most importantly, how they can be avoided. Not every threat is malicious; sometimes unwitting employees inadvertently give away information or an unsuspecting person bites on a phishing attempt. We will explore social engineering by defining it, giving examples, and learning about the four steps of the social engineering process.

While you don't need to be a programmer to be a cybersecurity professional, coding is important in protecting software from hackers. This lesson will deliver the goods on secure coding. You will first learn why it is crucial and see the qualities of secure coding. Next, you will look at frameworks created to give developers a process for implementing secure coding in both new and older applications. Finally, you will take a look at secure coding framework examples.

In this lesson, we will learn about cybersecurity from the perspective of the company or organization. We will explore how companies respond to attacks, and know how companies try to ensure their organization will recover from an attack after surviving and dealing with it. Then, we will revisit the various types of data important to businesses and how companies can protect that data. This is where cybersecurity specialists really shine!

In this lesson, we will explore cybersecurity in business. You will learn about security awareness and how to bring it to employees of a company, including how to develop a good Security Awareness Program (SAP). We will explore how to create a good security culture as well as a cybersecurity culture. These cultures are essential because when security is relevant to everyone in the company, they will participate in the process of cybersecurity for the company.

In this lesson, you will look at employment prospects and the future expectations for cybersecurity employment. You will explore some strategies to identify positions in the cybersecurity field that are best suited for a new cybersecurity employee. Since cybersecurity is a large profession with many different positions, it is important to home in on attributes important to you in a job and learn how to find the job best suited to you. Next, you will explore remote work and how it relates to a cybersecurity specialist. You will examine the benefits and challenges of working remotely for both an employee and the business. Finally, you will dive into the projected growth of cybersecurity and specific sub-areas where the most significant job growth is expected to occur.

As we wrap up the course, we will look at the best education paths, various cybersecurity certifications, and degrees that are in demand for different cybersecurity specialties. You will learn about the importance of and the types of continuing education. Finally, you will explore how to catch a company's attention with specific and highly developed resumes and cover letters to help you land a job.

Instructors & Support

Sara Perrott

Sara Perrott has been working in the information technology field for 20+ years and has devoted the last 10 of those to focusing on cybersecurity. She is a published author, a former college professor, and is passionate about teaching the next generation of cybersecurity professionals. Sara has an MS in Cybersecurity and Information Assurance from WGU Washington and a BS in Information Systems Security from the University of Phoenix.

Instructor Interaction: The instructor looks forward to interacting with learners in the online moderated discussion area to share their expertise and answer any questions you may have on the course content.

Requirements

Prerequisites:

There are no prerequisites to take this course.

Requirements:

Hardware Requirements:

This course can be taken on either a PC, Mac, or Chromebook.

Software Requirements:

PC: Windows 10 or later.
Mac: macOS 10.6 or later.
Browser: The latest version of Google Chrome or Mozilla Firefox is preferred. Microsoft Edge and Safari are also compatible.
Microsoft Word Online
Adobe Acrobat Reader
Software must be installed and fully operational before the course begins.

Other:

Email capabilities and access to a personal email account.

Instructional Material Requirements:

There are no instructional material requirements to take this course.

FAQ

Instructor-Moderated: A new session of each course begins each month. Please refer to the session start dates for scheduling.

Self-Guided: Your course begins immediately after you enroll.

Instructor-Moderated: Once a course session starts, two lessons will be released each week for the 6 week duration of your course. You will have access to all previously released lessons until the course ends. You will interact with the instructor through the online discussion area. There are no live sessions or online meetings with the instructor.

Self-Guided: You have 3 months of access to the course. After enrolling, you can learn and complete the course at your own pace, within the allotted access period. You will have the opportunity to interact with other students in the online discussion area.

Instructor-Moderated: The interactive discussion area for each lesson automatically closes two weeks after each lesson is released, so you're encouraged to complete each lesson within two weeks of its release. However, you will have access to all lessons from the time they are released until the course ends.

Self-Guided: There is no time limit to complete each lesson, other than completing all lessons within the allotted access period. Discussion areas for each lesson are open for the entire duration of the course.

Instructor-Moderated: Students enrolled in a six-week online class benefit from a one-time, 10-day extension for each course. No further extensions can be provided beyond these 10 days.

Self-Guided: Because this course is self-guided, no extensions will be granted after the start of your enrollment.

Explore a Career in Cybersecurity

University of Central Florida