cyber security degree guide

You Can Hack It!

A slightly disconcerting thought for anyone using the internet is that the geographic region of the world whose browsers most often searches Google for “cybersecurity” is Malaysia. More disturbing is that Google Trends uncovered Washington, D.C. and Arlington, Virginia as the leading search centers in the United States. Either a lot of people in neighborhoods around the National Security Agency (NSA) and Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) are trying to find out—from Google of all places—how to get in, or the NSA and CIA are depending on Google to keep people out. Neither is a comforting thought. Cybersecurity is a growing part of our everyday lives, an important and meaningful task. 

Cyber-what?

What is cybersecurity? The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies (NICCS™), an official part of the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) defines cybersecurity as:

The activity or process, ability or capability, or state whereby information and communications systems and the information contained therein are protected from and/or defended against damage, unauthorized use or modification, or exploitation.

Cybersecurity itself generally falls into two groups, cyber operations (think James Bond’s Q Branch; the hardware and gadgets) and cybersecurity (think James Bond’s M character; the manager of the mayhem).

Is Cybersecurity Important?

DHS considers cybersecurity important enough to devote personnel, resources, and ample funds to keeping the internet safe. Keeping Americans safe online is an important part of national security. Your vision of safety online, however, may not be another person’s:

  • Parents naturally wish to protect their children from inappropriate material online
  • Banks are charged with protecting their account holders from electronic thievery
  • Governments have a duty to protect their citizens’ sensitive and personal data such as tax records, Social Security numbers and departmental e-mails
  • Financial firms seek to protect their bank accounts
  • Governmental agencies have a responsibility to protect national secrets, military information, and diplomatic correspondence
  • School districts and universities have a legal responsibility to shield their students from intrusion online

Cybersecurity—a field that did not even exist a generation ago—is now a part of the fabric of our nation. From everyday shopping transactions to top secret information, our online world is as real and fraught with risk as any boardroom or battlefield. 

What’s the Worst That Could Happen?

Cybersecurity experts spend their time asking themselves this question over and over. Then they test their systems for vulnerabilities, harden them against exposed weaknesses, and ask again. There's a reason Cybersecurity as a profession exists: 

The worst that could happen, through online security breaches and hacks, is that citizens’ personal information, finances, and marriages could be destroyed. Companies' finances could be wrecked, industrial secrets pilfered, and employees laid off. Military secrets could be stolen and sold to foreign countries. Our financial institutions and governmental agencies could be hollowed out by renegade nations. The need for experts standing at the front lines of defense against these intrusions is both critical and obvious. 

Cybersecurity Facts and Figures

The Department of Defense (DoD) anticipates having 133 teams, totaling 6,000 experts, staffing the U.S. Cyber Command by 2018:

  • National Mission Teams: 13 teams to defend the United States and its interests against cyberattacks of significant consequence
  • Cyber Protection Teams: 68 teams to defend DoD networks and systems against threats
  • Combat Mission Teams: 27 teams to support Combatant Commands by generating integrated cyberspace effects in support of operational plans and contingency operations
  • Support Teams: 25 teams to provide analytic and planning support to the National Mission and Combat Mission teams

DoD staffing the U.S. Cyber Command by 2018

Stanford University has a vested interest in promoting education in cybersecurity, beginning K-12 and extending into undergraduate and graduate programs. Yet entry into the field is significantly easier for employees who are well educated in rigorous training programs. The days of self-taught cowboy hackers emerging as white hats to defend companies and get full-time employment are long past. 

cyber security growth ten fold

Cybersecurity Degrees

The BLS impartially notes that Information Security Analysts must have at least a bachelor’s degree in computer science or programming, but most employers prefer their analysts in cybersecurity to have a master’s degree. The master’s degree could be in business administration, but a more valuable degree is in information security itself: Cybersecurity. 

Master’s degrees are notoriously difficult to earn while holding down a job, raising a family, and dealing with typical adult issues. Often expensive, usually time-consuming, and mentally exhausting, these programs may feel out of reach for many workers.

One solution is to seek out an accelerated program, in which total program time decreases while adding skills that could lead quickly to increased job responsibility or entirely new positions. Some accelerated master’s degree programs could get you from undergraduate to graduate degree in as little as 15 months. 

Earnings based on education

Attaining Your Degree in Cybersecurity

Some basic strategies that make you a worthy citizen could also substantially help your entry into cybersecurity: 

  • U.S. citizenship
  • No criminal record
  • Outstanding academic performance
  • Demonstrated interest in community, technology and computer development

Some fields, including academic research, many sciences, and cybersecurity, have no upper limit to the educational attainment an ambitious learner can gain. Beginning with an undergraduate college degree in computer sciences, an information security analyst could gain a master’s degree in cybersecurity and then add certifications seemingly without end: 

  • CISSP
  • ISSEP
  • GIAC: Global Information Assurance Certificate
  • EISM: EC Council Information Security Manager
  • CEH: Certified Ethical Hacker
  • SANS: Systems Administration and Network Security
  • C|CISO: Certified Chief Information Security Officer

The path isn't always easy, though. An Information Systems Security Engineering Professional or Certified Information Systems Security Professional (ISSEP/CISSP), must pass a rigorous three-hour (ISSEP) or six-hour (CISSP) exam. 

The possible paths after you attain your master’s Degree in Cybersecurity may be unlimited, but that does not ease the anxiety of anyone first venturing out into the educational landscape. 

Paying for Your Master’s in Cybersecurity: Scholarships, Grants, & More

A smart consumer—you—can search for an affordable, flexible program that allows you to continue in entry-level work while earning the master’s degree in cybersecurity. Affording it means balancing present desires with future goals, and also balancing campus presence with online learning. With a little cybersleuthing of your own, you could find programs within your price range and time range. 

Many employers will help pay all or part of a master’s program in return for commitments to continue with the employer for a given time after earning the degree. Since the field is important for national security, many scholarships for cybersecurity are available as well. DHS offers these, as do other organizations. 

Entry-level Cyber Security Jobs

Entry-level positions related to cybersecurity exist ranging from small companies up to the NSA, which has a development program to train and groom young cybersecurity and cryptanalysis talent. These positions start from a solid grounding in computer science, coding and programming and then add specialized skills: 

  • Data security at server farms and data centers
  • Network security
  • Penetration testing
  • Risk assessment 
  • Cryptography and cryptanalysis

Do I Need a Security Clearance to Work in Cybersecurity?

Government positions in cybersecurity will often require clearances, which, despite popular movies and spy thrillers, have distinct definitions: 

  • Confidential: Your cybersecurity work gives you access to material that could measurably damage national security if leaked
  • Secret: Disclosing this level of material could cause grave damage to national security
  • Top Secret: Two words: disastrous damage

Naturalized citizens and U.S. citizens can obtain these clearances; foreign nationals cannot. Even if you do not work directly for a government agency, but work only for a subcontractor, you may need these clearances. NSA, CIA, DHS and the FBI all require these levels of clearance. If you get into the higher echelon of cybersecurity experts, you may even have TS/SCI (Sensitive Compartmentalized Information) clearance. 

Private industry establishes its own levels of security and does its own background checks, but be aware that any work you may do that is deemed part of the nation’s critical infrastructure puts you under the auspices of DHS’s Private Sector Clearance Program for Critical Infrastructure (PSCP). 

Cybersecurity Specializations

The field of cybersecurity is now becoming so important and focused that niches develop within it. At the most basic parsing, you could take a path toward active engagement and hardware (cyber operations) or managerial work to set policy, establish methods and train employees (cybersecurity). 

Cyber Operations

If your interest is more toward hardware and software, specializing in Cyber Operations may be your preferred path: 

  • Building firewalls
  • Cryptography
  • Digital forensics
  • Security hardening
  • Intrusion prevention systems
  • Intrusion detection systems

Cyber Operations deals very much with the hands-on aspect of preventing hackers from hacking and identity thieves from plundering. This is the realm of hardware specialists, late-night cyber detectives, and rooms buzzing with people actively stopping individual hackers or entire rogue nation-states as they attack networks or push denial of service operations. Fluency in coding, cryptography and testing are all beneficial for cyber operations professionals. 

Cybersecurity Policy

Rather than work on a particular piece of coding or a station, cybersecurity policy specialists take on managerial roles within companies, organizations and governments. They set policy and more: 

  • Design security programs
  • Monitor networks
  • Manage risk
  • Audit systems

If you tend to be more of a people person than a gadget person, cybersecurity policy may be more preferable for you than cyber operations. Expect to respond to crises that take you beyond typical working hours, but you will likely spend more time in meetings and performing presentations to defend budgets and explain risks than you will spend in front of a workstation. 

How to Get into Cybersecurity

The first step you can take to enter the fascinating field of cybersecurity is to attain your Master of Science degree in Cybersecurity through ECPI University. The unique hybrid program that gets you from undergraduate degree to graduate degree in as little as 15 months provides two concentrations: cyber operations or cybersecurity. Through our program, you’ll have the opportunity to gain real-world experience with actual case studies, prepare for advanced certifications, and participate in local, regional, and national activities to test your abilities.

Contact ECPI University today to learn how you could find a possible path in an industry of national importance and global significance. It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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