The 5 Technical Skills Needed To Start In Cybersecurity
In the previous article, we looked at five non-technical (soft) skills needed to get started in the cybersecurity field. Today we’ll take a look at five technical skills needed to get started.
5. Operating Systems Fundamentals
Knowing the basics of how your operating system of choice works will aid tremendously in cybersecurity. Take for Linux for example. Within the operating system are numerous services and capabilities that could be useful when trying to secure the system or even when performing security or vulnerability assessments.
If you’re new to Linux, the learning curve may appear steep however there are many quality avenues for learning the basics like the ones below.
- This course is a complete introduction to Linux and assumes basic knowledge of computers:
https://www.edx.org/course/introduction-to-linux - OverTheWire is great for getting your feet wet with the Linux command line. The Bandit WarGame starts off simple and builds in difficulty across 34 levels. Knowledge of Secure Shell (SSH) is required to play, however, the site provides excellent references for those who have never used it before:
https://overthewire.org/wargames/
4. Programming Fundamentals
Regardless of your starting point in cybersecurity, it is inevitable that at some point you will need to write some code. That code could be to automate some small tasks or to develop an entirely new web application, regardless, knowing how to program is a skill that can grow with you as you progress in your career. There are far too many excellent resources online to list them all, but here is a couple that will help you get started.
- From HTML to Python, CodeAcademy has courses that will guide you through the learning process so that you can pick up a new language very quickly. They also have courses for Data Science including SQL and R:
https://www.codecademy.com/ - KhanAcademy has multiple lessons on HTML, Web Development, and Computer Science fundamentals:
https://www.khanacademy.org/computing
Shameless plug, I also write beginner Python articles and I hope that you will also consider checking those out: https://medium.com/@thecyberbasics
3. Networking Fundamentals
Computer networking is the backbone of communication in today’s world so having an understanding of how it works is necessary to be successful. You’ll need to be familiar with the seven layers of the OSI model and how packets are sent across networks. In order to do this here are a few resources for online study.
- The University of Michigan offers a free course through Coursera regarding the History of the Internet and includes an introduction to TCP/IP networking:
https://www.coursera.org/learn/internet-history - This article from TheGeekStuff walks you through packet creation and transmission across a network in a quick overview:
https://www.thegeekstuff.com/2011/11/tcp-ip-fundamentals/
2. Automation Fundamentals (DevOps)
DevOps is the intersection of Development and Operations in a computing environment. Having a strong foundation in DevOps translates into having a strong foundation in automation and quality control. The foundations of automation include understanding how to use tools such as Ansible to automate the tasks of creating and deploying servers, and can even be extended to setting up and securing networking equipment. This is a huge field within cybersecurity so finding resources is a little overwhelming. Listed here are a couple that could be useful to you.
- EdX has multiple courses aimed at providing entry-level DevOps knowledge and is definitely worth a look:
https://www.edx.org/learn/devops - RedHat provides foundational training on Ansible and how to get started using this excellent automation software:
https://www.ansible.com/resources/get-started
1. System Administration Fundamentals
The most important skill for success in cybersecurity is a solid foundation in system administration. From building user-profiles and managing network policies to creating databases and hardening servers, the system administration work roles encompass a large portion of the skillsets needed to excel in cybersecurity. You could argue that cybersecurity is a subset of system administration given how much of the skill sets overlap. Here are a couple of resources to help get started with system administration.
- Google provides this excellent Coursera course as part of their Google IT Support Professional certificate, it goes into detail about what system administration is and provides examples of how to design and build an Active Directory structure:
https://www.coursera.org/learn/system-administration-it-infrastructure-services - CyborgInstitute provides a write up describing the skills necessary for success as a system administrator, in reading you’ll notice many of the skills overlap with that of cybersecurity:
http://cyborginstitute.org/projects/administration/fundamentals/
One thing to notice about this list is that each item listed includes the words “Fundamentals”. This is key because in order to be successful in cybersecurity you don’t need to master every topic, but you need to have a wide variety of exposure to technology and systems in order to build your knowledge on. I also kept to free resources, there are MANY quality resources out there that provide training at a cost, which many times will come with completion certificates or even industry certifications to help build your resume.
Thank you for reading. If you enjoyed this article, please consider supporting over at Patreon. You can also find me on Twitter @BasicsCyber.
