The recent years have witnessed an unprecedented increase in the number of cyber threats and cyber security breaches, all across the world. We hear every now and then of cyber criminals hacking systems or networks, getting away with all kinds of data and playing mischief with bank accounts, causing identity theft etc. Cyber security has gained relevance over the years as today the internet has become an integral part of our day-to-day lives and we do transactions, purchases etc on the internet as well. Here we dwell on two different aspects of this very relevant issue…
Increase in Cyber Attacks Leading to Data Loss
Cyber attacks mostly target and lead to data theft. Hackers hack into systems and networks and aim at getting away with data they can use. Data that’s targetted may include credit card data or bank account data from retail stores or bank websites, email log in data from hacked websites, corporate data from hacked organizational websites, defense and government data etc.
In the recent past, we have had reports of hacking happening in hotels, healthcare firms, fast food chains etc and hackers getting away with sensitive credit card data of millions of customers. We have also heard of cyber criminals reportedly stealing email credentials and trading them in the underworld. That’s it. Cyber attacks target data, which can be stolen and misused, in many ways. So, cyber security experts all the world over always try to find ways to prevent data security breaches and to ensure data loss prevention.
Increase in Cyber Attacks makes Data Security a Hot Career Prospect
This is another aspect relating to the issue of increasing cyber threats and cyber attacks. Data security-related jobs are gaining in relevance, with corporates as well as government agencies hiring data security experts to fix vulnerabilities, combat cyber threats and attacks and to ensure data loss prevention.
Today, there is an increasing need for qualified professionals to work as data security experts. Thus, data security itself has now become one of the fastest growing specializations in the IT industry. Job prospects are immense and the salary paid too is high compared to many other IT jobs, especially if the data security professional is immensely qualified and in demand.
The job of a data security professional would involve key things like ensuring data encryption, identifying security vulnerabilities and risks, monitoring access to data, disaster recovery of data, providing basic security infrastructure, troubleshooting web security issues, having a general awareness of applicable laws and regulations etc. Data security experts are needed in almost every sector- the retail industry, government agencies, healthcare organizations, the corporate sector, the IT industry etc. There are posts like security administrator, cyber policy analyst, data security specialist, IT officer, cyber security consultant etc that suit professionals in this field.
Reports that suggest that while the global annual cybercrime costs will grow from $3 trillion in 2015 to $6 trillion annually by 2021, the cyber security job market is likely to register a growth of over $170 billion in the next 4 years. Yes, the cyber security market, which had grown worldwide from $3.5 billion in 2004 to $75 billion in 2015, is expected to touch the $170 billion mark by 2020.
