How to Learn Network Security with the Help of Formal Education

The internet is a powerful creature. It enables people to tell jokes, share vacation pictures, and conduct multi-billion-dollar business transactions across the globe in the blink of an eye. But the internet can also be wielded as a dangerous weapon by malicious operators who steal secrets, deny access for service users, and wreak havoc with hospitals, banks, and airports. The difference between connecting the world and indefinitely turning its lights out lies in the wily brains of cybersecurity professionals.

Cybersecurity is an industry that is growing horizontally, vertically, and exponentially. Horizontal growth is reflected in the increasing numbers of individuals, companies, systems and networks that are being added every minute of every day.

Vertically, growth occurs when cyber criminals get smarter and develop ever more clever tools to hack their way through increasingly sophisticated barriers, spawning in turn a quantum leap in network security. The hackers crack their knuckles, fill their coffee pots, and begin the next round of the competition. That this is all happening at warp speed demonstrates its exponential growth

Stopping bad actors in black hats

The people standing between hackers and innocent internet users everywhere are cyber security professionals. Cybersecurity, and its nephew, network security, offer the potential for unlimited challenges and as well as possible career satisfaction and monetary compensation.

How is network security different from cybersecurity, but still an important part of the cybersecurity family?

The individual user sitting at their workstation doesn't know whether their next cyber attack is coming from without, or within, nor do they care. The only thing that matters is that when they fire up their screen every morning, the realm over which they preside, be it the international precious metals stock market or the local supermarket stock room, remains secure and functional.

What are the benefits of earning a formal degree in network security if you want to start a career in the field?

A formal degree in cyber and network security could prepare you for a role in:

• Administering, managing, and troubleshooting software, hardware, or computer services for single-user, multi-user, and mixed environments.
• Applying cyber security techniques to data protection, including ways to establish an organizational culture that weaves data safeguarding practices and procedures into daily routines. What does this mean? It means drilling into the heads of everyone from the CEO to the person who orders catering supplies that "password1" is not going to keep their private business information safe, and that a birthdate reversed is as easily hacked as a normal birthdate.
• Performing vulnerability analyses and penetration testing or an organization's systems and networks.
• Pro-actively monitoring and defending computer networks.
• Authoring and establishing policies and procedures in network security.

Earning a formal degree could do more than provide you with the nuts and bolts for the job, it gives your resume a boost as well. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, employers look for at least a bachelor's degree in computer science. This applies whether you are starting out in the field, or are already employed as a computer professional and wondering why you aren't getting ahead.

Won't a degree take ages to complete?

It's a common concern that a traditional route, such as degree will take entirely too long. Who wants to sit behind a desk in a classroom all day when you can be working and making money? Thankfully, there are quicker ways to get the education you need without sacrificing years of your life.

Accelerated degree programs could help you graduate in as little as 2.5 years, instead of the traditional 4 years. Imagine being able to get the best of both worlds: the degree you need for the field and a quicker way to move through the program.

Are you interested in learning network security? If you want to earn a Bachelor of Science Degree in Computer and Information Science with a Major in Cyber and Network Security, ECPI University offers this program at an accelerated pace. For more information, connect with a friendly admissions representative today.

It could be the Best Decision You Ever Make!

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Gainful Employment Information – Cyber and Network Security - Bachelor’s

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