Diving Deeper into Cybersecurity

Are you interested in cybersecurity and want to learn more about it? Well, that’s great timing since these days security needs across the industry are rising steadily!

You’re also in luck, because there was never a time before in the history of humanity where so much information on cybersecurity was available (videos, certifications, courses, degrees) - what to do? Having a lot of information available is great, but at the same time what should you focus on?

Well, there is no single best path that works for everyone, but here are some quick hints:

1. Join a community with similar interests - a Discord server, an IRC (I’m old), a forum, a community like codingclub.di.uoa.gr.
2. Take an introductory class, either with an online curriculum (e.g., Coursera, etc) or a physical one - e.g., hackintro.github.io.
3. Participate in security competitions like Capture-The-Flag - no better way to learn than hands-on experience.
4. Do an internship in an organization that cares about security. Similar to CTFs, no better way to learn than diving into reality!
5. A certification. In general, I do not recommend certifications since I think they are overly-specific and may not teach you generic concepts. However, for applying to certain roles, it may be an absolute requirement and in that case it is worth the investment. Which certification is best? The one that fits your needs! Security has many different roles and each one has different certifications - an Azure Cloud Security certification will be very different to an OSCP - find out what’s most useful to you before trying it out (and again an internship may help you decide here).

All of the above can contribute directly to your resume. Did you have a win on a CTF event? Make sure you include that! That shows technical competency!