Why Cybersecurity is the fastest growing sector in IT

Over the years, there has been an ever-increasing number of cybersecurity jobs, demonstrating a deficit for cybersecurity professionals. With rapidly evolving technology comes advancing threats, and pretty much no one is immune to Cyberattacks.

Hackers use cyber threats to disrupt, damage, or hack important information using different means including phishing, malware, spyware, and other types of sophisticated attacking methods.

However, Cybersecurity solutions are there to end this ever-growing menace. Cybersecurity professionals track, report, and manage cyber threats to preserve data confidentiality. Let’s take a look at why Cybersecurity is snowballing in IT and how to hop on the train. 

Most popular Cybersecurity Threats in 2022

Damages from Cybersecurity breaches are expected to grow by 15 percent per year over the next five years. As of 2015, the annual global cybercrime cost was $3 trillion. By 2025, it will cost a whopping $10.5 trillion.

Let’s take a look at the top five cybersecurity threats for 2022.

Phishing 

Phishing is a type of social engineering where attackers send fraudulently designed digital messages to people in a bid to steal sensitive information such as credit card details, login credentials, and other financial data. 

Cryptojacking

When hackers use your computer to mine cryptocurrency against your will, it puts your security at risk and slows down your computer. Cryptojacking can occur when the victim clicks on a malicious link or ad that loads crypto mining code and auto-executes the process. 

Deepfakes

Cybercriminals can use Artificial Intelligence to create fake videos, photos, and audio recordings for criminal purposes. Deepfakes, when done well, can be convincing and complex to flag as fake.

Internet of Things (IoT) Attacks 

This is when cybercriminals seek to gain control over The Internet of Things (IoT) devices in your home to steal sensitive data or cause harm. IoT devices enable us to stay connected, and they can include household appliances, routers, laptops, tablets, and home security systems.

Ransomware Attacks

Ransomware attacks involve hackers accessing your computer through dubious means and freezing it. The hackers will then demand ransom to release the control of your account back to you. Ransomware attacks can cost victims billions of dollars as hackers deploy sophisticated technologies to fetch organizational databases to ask for ransom.

Cybersecurity Growth in Various Industries

Military and government parastatals

In 2020, the Global Defense Cybersecurity Market was valued at $16.22 billion, and it is expected to register a CAGR of approximately 10.51%, which means by 2026, it would be worth a whopping $28.53 billion. The defense industry has witnessed dynamic changes due to advancements in IT. Surveillance, gathering of intelligence, and the data on weaponry are examples of information that should never see the public eyes. 

Attacks on defense infrastructure by cyber-attackers on security systems that were believed to be impenetrable are now prominent. It is crucial to secure these data using reliable and enhanced cybersecurity solutions. This has led to the increase in defense funding in many countries, which is a driving factor for the growth of the cybersecurity market.

Global Health

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about unprecedented changes in the healthcare industry. Many healthcare companies had to find ways to automate their processes and digitalize their business models to develop a remote working environment that’s flexible for employees and clients alike. 

These changes brought about an increase in cyberattacks since lots of channels were now predominately digital. Compared to other industries, personal health information has a superior value on the black market. Besides, data breaches can lead to patients’ information like claims data, addresses, or social security numbers being used for fraud. 

In the United States alone, there was an estimated shortage of 500,000 cybersecurity professionals before the COVID‐19 pandemic. Now, the demand for cybersecurity professionals has tripled. The Global Healthcare Cyber Security Market size is rising at a market growth of 16.3% CAGR, and by 2027, it is expected to reach $28.4 billion.

Private Corporations

Privately-owned businesses are getting seriously burned by cybercriminals. In fact, in research carried out by PwC in 2022, 49% of respondents rated cyber attacks as the biggest threat to their company’s growth. 

Corporations are responsible for a nation’s manufacturing arm. Since they also produce the computers and the hardware and software used with them, it is only essential that critical security functions and confidential operations are kept safe.

However, cybercriminals have upped their game, and simple endpoint attacks have become a multitude of complex operations. Expensive ransomware payouts, massive data leaks, getting an easy foothold into a company’s network with crypto mining attacks have led to organizations seeking more efficient cyber security solutions. 

Many top companies now put core technologies to protect data in their business security units. Their goal seems to be achieving a signature-less security system with machine learning, IoT, cloud computing. These adoptions would help corporations mitigate risks and keep their businesses safe from cyberbullies.

The Sector is Growing and so Is the Profession

With this growth rate of cybersecurity, the demand for cybersecurity professionals is growing too. Actually, this is the fastest growing career in IT. Information Security Analysts are the front-line defenders of networks, they set firewalls and encryption in order to protect breaches, and continually monitor and audit systems for suspicious activity.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), information security analyst is one of the top 10 fastest growing occupations (all categories, and number one in IT), with a projected increase of 33.3 percent from 2020 to 2030.The median annual wage for information security analysts was $103,590 in May 2020 and will keep moving up for the foreseeable future.

This is an area where employers often prefer to recruit professionals who have IT certifications such as the CompTIA Security+ credential. In fact, the largest employer in the United States, the Department of Defense, require that whoever works on their IT infrastructure (whether direct employees or sub-contractors) be Security+ certified.

If youwantto make this your new career,consider the CompTIA Security+ which can prepare you for roles like ITInformation Security Analyst among other cybersecurity job titles. Curious about what the questions on this exam may look like? There are many online resources for that, here is one of them that will give you a sense of what Security+ practice test questions may look like.