What Do Cybersecurity Professionals Do All Day?
Perhaps you are wondering if cybersecurity is the right career for you. Maybe you are inspired by the general topic but you are curious about the daily ongoing tasks and duties you may be performing. So what do cybersecurity professionals even do all day? Daily tasks depend a lot on the environment. Similar to a career in graphic design or accounting, some professionals work in-house for a particular business and others work for an outsourced cybersecurity company that services other organizations and businesses. There are a lot of things you will not be allowed to show others, but here is a quick breakdown of the daily responsibilities and workflow of a cybersecurity professional.
Routine
Cybersecurity professionals engage in routine daily tasks, not unlike other career paths. Their morning routine may involve reviewing urgent email communications or looking over an outstanding task list. But cybersecurity is also incredibly dynamic, with changing threats and unexpected challenges to engage your brain. Yaron Levi, CISO for Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City, argues that “security leaders are under a lot of pressure to show quick wins while knowing full well that everything they do will be heavily scrutinized and challenged.” Your supervisor will therefore be counting on you to ensure efficient and thorough processes on the ground level.
Daily Life
In the role of a data support technician or administrator, you will be expected to configure or set up operating systems for various company devices and troubleshoot when necessary. Service and support challenges are commonplace, so expect to be busy and engaged throughout the day. Documentation is another fundamental element of your role because records of help desk tickets can be invaluable for future troubleshooting. Your day will involve a lot of solving problems and connecting dots to keep operations running smoothly.
More advanced roles such as a vulnerability or threat intelligence analyst will require you to assess threats and mitigate risk. Your job may include penetration testing to ensure proper threat and vulnerability management. You may be involved with security architecture and will most certainly be responsible for efficiently and effectively responding to cyber incidents whenever they arise.
Professionals with network+ certification will be required to go one step beyond basic network maintenance and learn how to design and implement functional networks. Working as a network administrator or field engineer will involve configuring, managing and maintaining essential network devices for the organization. You would also typically work to isolate and identify the strengths and weaknesses of existing network configurations.
Continuing Education
One of the most important aspects of your daily life should be your ongoing learning and devoting time to continuing education or cybersecurity courses. Many employers will support you in your continuing professional development because it is in the best interest of the company for their team to be aware of the latest trends and concerns. Consider your many options for online education, such as the CompTIA security+ certification or cysa+ certification training. You can also build your foundation and break into the field with the highly essential CompTIA a+ certification training. The roadmap to your future in cybersecurity will have many turns and unexpected learning moments. It will evidently be a dynamic progression and continuing education should always be a priority for you. Your expectations and reality may occasionally be in conflict, but that is all part of the learning process.
