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THE mining boom may be over, but there’s one industry that’s about to take off.
Thanks to the rise of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and device interconnectivity, computer security is shaping up to be one of the most sought-after qualifications.
Job ads in the sector for the month of February were 57 per cent higher than last year, according to Seek’s latest employment index report.
And demand is expected to keep growing as more companies move their operations onto the cloud, said IT recruitment specialist Mark Nielsen, chief executive APAC of Talent International.
“There’s huge opportunities,” Mr Nielsen said.
“You’ve got a lot more action between devices and the move to a cloud-based system, so there’s a lot more gateways and a lot more cyber crimes to happen.”
In December, industry experts estimated that there were one million unfilled cyber security jobs around the world, and the need is set to grow.
Banks are one of the major employers of cyber security professionals, and CBA is so concerned about a looming talent shortage that
it’s invested $1.5 million on an online degree program.
The Security Engineering Partnership (or “Sec. Edu”) will help build an army of white-hat hackers to battle the rising menace of cyber intrusions, identify theft, malware attacks, trojans, bots, and other malicious pieces of software.
The course, run in partnership with the University of NSW, is free. That’s right, no HECS— not bad for a degree that can bring a six-figure salary within the first couple of years after graduation.
Highly sought-after specialists could command as much as $2500 a day, Mr Nielsen said.
Timothy Moore and Adam Rigg competed in the national Cyber Security Challenge, hosted by the Federal Government and Telstra.
Source:News Corp Australia
Jobs in the field include penetration testing — hacking into computer systems to expose their weaknesses — malware analysis and information security governance.
Aside from the UNSW specialist program, you can get into the field by studying a computer science degree and doing further study.
Practical experience can be gained by participating in one of several ‘capture the flag’ real time hacking competitions held each year, such as the Telstra Cyber Security Challenge.
CBA’s cyber security boss Brendan Hopper, a 31-year-old self-taught hacker who runs the Sec.Edu course, said the industry was perfect for those who liked to use their analytical skills while being creative.
“It uses both sides of your brain and it’s really challenging,” he said in a December interview with news.com.au.
“You need to be able to think like an attacker.”
This involved an incredibly in-depth breakdown of computer programs, to the point where “you get a better knowledge of the program than the person who wrote it in the first place”.
Mr Nielsen said IT security could be a great career change for people working in banking and financial services, which are among the industries with the greatest need.
He said banks were spending as much as one third of their infrastructure budgets on fending off hackers.
“With businesses expanding their offerings to meet customer web and mobility requirements, coupled with the advancement in devices with artificial intelligence capabilities, it is now more important than ever to be able to anticipate the level of sophistication possible when it comes to cybercrimes,” Mr Nielsen said.
“There has been a big increase in the way governments, businesses and people rely on technology and mobility as well as the rapid expansion of cloud computing. As a result, security is one of the fastest growing areas we are seeing in the IT industry.”
