Career Tracks

Cyber Security

101 What Is Cyber Security?

Cyber Security uses a variety of technologies and best practices to protect networks, computers, software programs, and data from attack, damage, or unauthorized access. The average salary of an Information Security Analyst is $90,120.

Jump to a list of all Cyber Security Bootcamps

What is Cyber Security?

Cyber Security consists of technologies and best practices to protect networks, computers, software programs, and data from attack, damage, or unauthorized access. Cyber security is used in everything from mobile apps to web platforms. Entities like governments, banks, and shopping applications are the biggest users of cyber security, but every company needs cyber security!

How to Land a Job in Cyber Security 

According to Manju Mude, a mentor at Springboard, “The only prerequisite for cyber security is that you think and understand risks and threats.” If you’re looking for jobs and not sure if you want to commit to a bootcamp and certifications yet, she recommends starting off with a job on the compliance team of a legal department. 

Cyber Security Certifications

  • Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) - Earning the CISSP proves that a security professional knows how to effectively design, implement, and manage a best-in-class cybersecurity program. 
  • CompTIA Security+ - CompTIA Security+ is a global certification validating baseline skills needed to pursue an IT security career. 
  • GIAC Certified Incident Handler (GCIH) - GCIH validates a security professional’s ability to detect, respond, and resolve computer security incidents.

The 17 Best Cyber Security Bootcamps of 2021

In 2022, there are now more than 100 cybersecurity bootcamps around the world, and we've curated a list of the Best 17 Cyber Security Bootcamps. Put simply, these are the cyber security schools we would recommend to our own family and friends. No matter how many accolades a school has, make sure you do your research: read reviews, talk to alumni, take an intro course, and ask about job outcomes data.

Do I have to have a college degree to get into Cyber Security?

Over 90% of cyber security jobs require some form of degree. If you don’t already have a college degree, you should strongly consider getting a degree in Information Technology, Information Security, or Cyber Security. An associate’s degree is sufficient for some entry-level positions. A cyber security degree gives students experience in programming, statistics, ethics, computer forensics, and analytical skills. A master’s degree in Cyber Security opens doors to higher-level Chief roles as well as higher salaries. 

If you already have a college degree in any field, and you want to pivot to a cyber security career, consider a bootcamp! Most cyber security bootcamps are not for complete tech newbies – so if you’ve never coded before, you should consider a general full stack coding bootcamp first. Information Security (InfoSec) classes are a big help for beginners, too. Most security bootcamps require one to two years of IT systems or development experience. Bootcamp tuitions cost between free to $19,000, and they range in duration from 9-20 weeks. Most bootcamps offer financing options. 

Online Cybersecurity Resources

  • Conferences - There are conferences around the world for information security and cyber security at any pricepoint. You can find a community directory of conferences here
  • Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) - OWASP is a nonprofit working to improve software security. They have online learning tools and resources. They offer networking, education, trainings, and resources on their website and in person at their hundreds of local chapters. 
  • BSides - BSides host Information Security conferences that are organized 100% by volunteers. They offer hackathons, challenges, and basic learning. They also host a Slack channel you can join in the footer of their site.   
  • Meetup - Whether you’re a beginner or an expert, Meetups are a great way to network, learn, and find support from your community. 
  • Youtube - Youtube is a wealth of knowledge in every field. From conference talks to vlogs, you can find cyber security community and lessons there. Here are some notable channels: 
    • Black Hat - Black Hat hosts conferences. They post conference talks to their Youtube! 
    • Troy Hunt - Microsoft Regional Director, Public Speaker, and founder of Have I Been Pwned. Troy posts Vlogs weekly as well videos of coding sessions. 
    • Habitu8 - Habitu8 teaches the basics of cyber security through tutorials. 
    • Security Weekly - Security Weekly can also be found in podcast form. This show goes over security compliance mandates every week sometimes with guests. 
  • The News - Follow the news! The breaches in the news are the very risks you’ll be discovering once you’re in the field. 

Cyber Security Jobs

Job opportunities are constantly growing for information security and cyber security professionals. There is global demand for over 8 million security professionals and we’re short by nearly 3 million. It’s safe to say, if you learn cyber security skills, you will be in demand for the foreseeable future. On the cyber security career path, most positions require a bachelor’s degree and about 30% require a certification. Many employers now accept proof of graduating from a cyber security bootcamp instead of a degree but still require a certification. Most information security jobs require a clean criminal background check as well. 

Here are some of the most common cyber security job titles:

  • IT Security Analyst
  • Network Security Engineer
  • Cyber Security Analyst 
  • Security Sales Engineer
  • Data Systems Analyst
  • Data Security Analyst
  • Systems Security Administrator
  • Network Security Administrator
  • Network Security Engineer
  • Information Systems Security Manager
  • Chief Security Officer

Cyber Security Job Description

Depending on the position, cyber security professionals safeguard information systems by identifying, troubleshooting, and solving any security problems. They protect the system by building or maintaining firewalls, defining access privileges, and controlling structures. They may be asked to anticipate requirements by evaluating trends and assessing the current state of the security system. The cyber security professional will perform upgrades and regular maintenance. Some cyber security roles will require the Engineer or Analyst to communicate with clients and create performance reports. 

What Does a Cyber Security Engineer or Cyber Security Analyst Do?

The duties of Cyber Security Engineers and Cyber Security Analysts differ from company to company. A Cyber Security Engineer might analyze computer networks and ensure they run securely, try to predict possible security issues, and design computer systems equipped to deal with disruptions and attacks. A Cyber Security Analyst plans and carries out security measures to protect a computer network. Analysts should expect to be evaluating and tracking threats, monitoring network security, and executing plans. 

Brian teaches Cyber Security at Evolve Security Academy and describes his career in cyber: “My first full time job in cyber security was at a major insurance company. I focused on application security, security operations, and vulnerability management. I also worked on their Computer Security Incident Response team. Later, I worked for an e-commerce startup. I built their security team and established their security program while they scaled from small startup to booming e-commerce platform.”

Cyber Security Salaries

Cybersecurity Job Average Salary
Information Security Analyst $90,120
Systems Security Administrator Salary $106,000
Network Security Administrator $110,000
Chief Security Office (10 years of experience) $140,000

Cyber Security Skills

Depending on your cyber security role and the company you’re working for, you’ll need to know some programming, operating systems, and cloud computing systems. Here are the skills most cyber security bootcamps will teach: 

  • Computer Network and Security
    • Firewall Administration
    • Encryption
    • Network Protocols
  • Data Systems Security Protocol
  • Hardware and Software Systems 
    • Amazon Web Services (AWS) - AWS is a secure cloud computing services platform offering computing power, storage, and enterprise applications. 
    • VMWare - VMWare is a virtualization and cloud computing software provider.
    • Linux - Linux is a family of open-source operating systems. 
    • Windows - Windows is a graphical operating system developed and published by Microsoft.
  • Knowledge of security trends and government regulations

For higher level positions, you’ll need deeper knowledge of: 

  • Networking Architecture
  • Authentication Practices
  • Security Administration
  • How to translate security policies and procedures into technical architectures
  • How to install, monitor, and maintain network security solutions

For a security job at any level, you’ll need to know the OWASP Security Principles: 

  • Injection
  • Broken Authentication
  • Sensitive Data Exposure
  • XML External Entities
  • Broken Access Control
  • Security Misconfiguration
  • Cross Site Scripting (XSS)
  • Insecure Deserialization
  • Using components with known variables
  • Insufficient logging and monitoring

Cyber Security Soft Skills

In addition to technical skills, a good Cyber Security career starts with soft skills. If you want to get into a management or an officer role, you will need to be able to communicate with and manage a team effectively. You’ll need to know how to establish respectful communication with everyone from clients to Administrators and Engineers. Other important soft skills include keeping up with the news, continuous learning, and vigilantly looking at things through a cyber security lens. 

Should I learn to code for cybersecurity?

Whether you need to learn to code to be a security professional depends on two things: your desire to “hack” and where you want to get a job. Only a small percentage of cyber security professionals play the “hacker” role. If you don’t want to be a hacker, you’ll need to understand coding fundamentals but you don’t have to be a coder to be successful in cybersecurity. If you want to work for a software company like Google or Twitter, they will most likely expect you to know how to code. Most cyber security bootcamps require students to be proficient in a scripting language like Ruby, JavaScript, Python, or Perl and operating systems like Windows and Linux. 

FEATURED SCHOOLS

 

Showing 101 - 125 of 201

  1. 5
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    3
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    Tech901 offers part-time web development and information security courses in Memphis, TN. Tech901 is a nonprofit school committed to building local tech tale... Read More

    Darrin Windsor-Cummings

    5Student - Course: Code 1.0 - Memphis

    Verified Via LinkedIn

    Says: Code 1.0

    CS50 edx Harvard is the basis for this class. There are several instructors who go above and beyond to help! ... Read More
  2. 5
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    AW Academy offers a 12-week, intensive bootcamps in C#/.Net, Java, JavaScript, Cybersecurity, and Salesforce as well as other upskilling training opportuniti... Read More

    Fredrik Bergqvist

    5Graduate - Course: C#.Net Intensive Bootcamp - Stockholm

    Verified Via GitHub

    Says: C# .NET Fullstack Bootcamp

    I took the 12w + 4w pre-studies bootcamp course of C# .NET Fullstack Dev education.Best choice professionally i've made!The setup was a hybrid solution so it wa ... Read More
  3. 5
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    Code Nation is a digital training school with classrooms in the UK – Manchester, Trafford, Chester and Cambridge. Students in the Master: Coding bootcamp lea... Read More

  4. The University of North Florida offers a 26-week, part-time cybersecurity bootcamp and a 26-week, part-time coding bootcamp in Jacksonville, Florida. Classes... Read More

    Karl E.

    5Student - Course: Cybersecurity - Jacksonville

    Verified Via LinkedIn

    Says: Core Resource for Career Pivot to Cybersecurity

    The University of North Florida offers a cybersecurity bootcamp powered by Fullstack academy. After a lot of research, I decided this would be the core resource ... Read More
  5. 4
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    Cyber University offers an online 268 hour cybersecurity bootcamp based in Puteaux, France. Cyber University bootcamp students will learn about legal issues ... Read More
  6. 4
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    MTS Class offers a remote, full-time, 16-week Linux Cyber Core bootcamp. The bootcamp covers topics like Linux, network security, cryptography, firewall mana... Read More

    Omari

    5Student - Course: Linux Cyber Core - Online

    Verified Via LinkedIn

    Says: MTSClass

    Listen if where being honest, learning a new language is difficult but you have to be open to making a mistake and these instructors help you but you have to as ... Read More
  7. 4
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    1
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    University of California Irvine Division of Continuing Education offers a 24-week Cybersecurity Boot Camp covering topics like enterprise infrastructure secu... Read More
  8. 4
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    RareSkills is an online training provider offering rigorous, 16-week, part-time blockchain bootcamps with optional extensions for specialized topics that tur... Read More

  9. University of Miami Cybersecurity Professional Bootcamp offers a live online, 40-week, part-time Cybersecurity bootcamp. The cybersecurity bootcamp covers Mi... Read More
  10. 4
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    6
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    Dublin Coding School is a bootcamp based in Ireland offering part-time online courses in data analytics (8 weeks), automated testing (7 weeks), manual testin... Read More

  11. California State University Long Beach (CSULB) offers a live online, part-time cybersecurity bootcamp. The cybersecurity bootcamp provides students with know... Read More

    Glen Abalayan

    5Student - Course: Cybersecurity Professional Certificate Program - Los Angeles

    Verified Via LinkedIn

    Says: Completed Introductory Course. Aryan is not a racist!

    Having just completed the introductory course from August-September 2020 I can confidently say that the introductory program has done its job at helping me dete ... Read More

  12. University of San Diego offers two part-time, 26 week remote online tech bootcamps: Cybersecurity and Coding.  University of San Diego Cybersecurity bootcamp... Read More

    balrebyc

    5Graduate - Online

    Verified Via GitHub

    Says: Everything you need to start a career in Cybersecurity

    I graduated from the 2010-USD-CYB-PT cohort and could not have had a better experience. The coursework was clearly laid out and the class sessions were a perfec ... Read More
  13. 3
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    18
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    EmergingEd offers online bootcamps in cybersecurity, data science, and blockchain and is open to students from around the world. EmergingEd offers bootcamp c... Read More

    Jeffrey

    5Graduate - Course: Cybersecurity Foundations and Frameworks - Online

    Verified Via LinkedIn

    Says: Cybersecurity Foundations and Frameworks and Machine Learning Foundations and Frameworks

    I've taken two EmergingEd courses, Cybersecurity Foundations and Frameworks and Machine Learning Foundations and Frameworks. Working for a tech startup without ... Read More
  14. 3
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    8
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    Skillspire offers online bootcamps with courses including Full Stack Web Development Immersive (16 weeks), Intro to Data Analytics (12 weeks), Advanced Data ... Read More

    Tasha Simbeck

    5Graduate - Course: C# & Azure Cloud - Online

    Verified Via LinkedIn

    Says: Full Review from a Recent Student

    Software Engineering Course Review Summary: There are some programs available to help with tuition.  The tuition cost is very reasonable and they offer Flexible ... Read More
  15. 3
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    TruTek is a training provider offering 16-week, instructor-led or self-paced Cybersecurity Risk Management Framework (CRMF) bootcamp. Courses are offered onl... Read More
  16. 3
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    Pivot Technology School offers 20-week, live online Data Analytics, Web Development, and Cybersecurity bootcamps. By providing cutting edge, comprehensive te... Read More
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    Mindteck Academy offers live, instructor-led online courses on a rotational basis in Machine Learning, Hadoop, Spark, Scala, Python, MongoDB, DevOps, and ful... Read More

  18. The University of Adelaide Boot Camps offer part-time web development, data analytics, and cybersecurity courses. The full stack curriculum includes HTML, CS... Read More

    Jake Colledge

    5Graduate - Course: Coding - Online

    Verified Via GitHub

    Says: My Journey Through Code

    The Beginning  Before I started Adelaide University's Coding Boot-camp, I was a professional hairstylist for 8 years. I enjoyed the Job, but disliked the work e ... Read More

  19. San Diego State University (SDSU) offers a 40-week, part-time, live online Cybersecurity bootcamp. The Cybersecurity Bootcamp is designed for working profess... Read More

  20. University of Central Florida Cyber Defense Professional Certificate is a live online, part-time, 40-week cybersecurity bootcamp. Bootcamp students will beco... Read More

    Hector Salva

    1Student - Orlando

    Verified Via LinkedIn

    Says: RUN AWAY!!!

    I can not say this enough DO NOT take this course, it is terribly over priced and you can get the same and even better teaching for $10-$20 courses on udemy. TH ... Read More

  21. The Indiana Wesleyan University Cybersecurity Bootcamp offers a part-time 24-week Cybersecurity bootcamp, run entirely online, in partnership with College Ga... Read More

  22. Butler Executive Education Boot Camps offer 24-week, part-time courses in data analytics, web development, and cybersecurity. The data curriculum includes pr... Read More

    Jack W. Tussing

    5Student - Course: Full Stack Web Development - Part-Time - Indianapolis

    Verified Via GitHub

    Says: student testimonial

     I’ve always had a passion for computers and learning new things. I’m always trying to figure out how things work and how things were created, so the idea of pu ... Read More

  23. New Jersey Institute of Technology Cybersecurity Bootcamp is a live online, part-time Cybersecurity bootcamp designed for working professionals. Courses are ... Read More

    Adriana Berry

    5Student - Course: Cybersecurity Professional Bootcamp - Online

    Verified Via LinkedIn

    Says: Bang for your buck.

    I cannot believe how cheap it is. It really is legit and there's to many tools provided. I love how you can do self paced and online. Very useful for someone wh ... Read More
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    01 Founders is an in-person, 104 week Full Stack Developer bootcamp with optional specializations in London, England.  01 Founders bootcamp learning is gamif... Read More

  25. The Boot Camps at the University of Sydney offer 24-week, part-time web development, cybersecurity, and financial technology (fintech) programs. The full sta... Read More

    Hayley Rodgers

    5Student - Course: Full Stack Web Development - Part-Time - Online

    Verified Via LinkedIn

    Says: The Coding Boot Camp at the University of Sydney

    Spreadsheets sparked my career in software development. I spent a lot of time working in them in my last job and loved the logical gymnastics of using a combina ... Read More

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