Cybersecurity Bootcamps Philadelphia, PA

With its etymological roots in the Greek kubernetes(helmsman) and the Latin securus (without care), cybersecurity is a relatively new term that describes a relatively new discipline. Cybersecurity is the antidote to another word fashioned from the same Greek root, cybercrime, and is the science of protecting networked computers from the bad actors who seek to steal data, destroy systems, and wreak havoc with the machines we depend on for everything from ordering gravel for potting succulents to keeping the traffic lights changing. The rise of the internet gave birth to cybercrime: all those interconnected computers must have seemed easy marks to this new breed of criminals.

Cybercrime can take on multiple forms, including:

• Viruses and worms,
• Spyware,
• Ransomware,
• Backdoors,
• Direct service attacks,
• Denial of service attacks,
• Phishing and Smishing,
• Man-in-the-middle attacks and other forms of eavesdropping, and
• Social engineering.

Depending on the attacker’s motives, these can be used for different purposes. Classic hackers create cyber havoc just for fun, essentially because they can. Although that’s certainly criminal behavior, the stakes can get higher when the hackers have actual malignant goals in mind. They can steal sensitive information (passwords, credit card numbers, medical information), or block access to a system’s legitimate users until a ransom is paid (usually in a cryptocurrency such as bitcoin). Computer crime can extend as far as international espionage and causing a computer literally to melt down by overloading a server.

In response to all these means of attack, cybersecurity has emerged as a professional field for people who know how to neutralize threats and repair damage. Cybersecurity specialists can take a variety of forms, ranging from counter-cyber espionage agents (they’re not just in the movies) to ethical hackers (like Wells Fargo’s Offensive Security Research Team, the response to its recent security woes). Ethical hackers generally constitute a so-called “red team” that seeks to prevent cyberattacks by anticipating what malicious hackers might do next. The corresponding “blue team” consists of people who work to defend a network. If this sounds like 21st-century wargames, that’s because that’s pretty much what it is.

Measures for combating cybercrime come in all shapes and sizes, from physical locks on real-world servers to firewalls to teaching employees basic digital hygiene all the way to employing cutting-edge machine learning techniques to combat cyber threats. Cybercrime will be around for a long time, creating an ongoing need for the metaphorically white-hatted good guys to combat the black-hatted bad guys.

The white hats in the world of hackers and cybersecurity can have several titles, including:

• Penetration tester (another term for red team),
• Vulnerability management (blue team),
• Security Architect,
• IT auditor,
• Security software developer,
• Cryptography engineer,
• Computer forensics analyst, and
• Ethical hacker.

Some countermeasures cybersecurity professionals employ include:

• Hardware protection,
• Reducing vulnerabilities,
• Prophylactic inoculation against viruses,
• Data loss prevention software,
• Firewalls,
• Cryptography, and
• Computer security incident response, which involves:
• Preparation,
• Detection and analysis,
• Containment, eradication and recovery, and, finally,
• Post-incident activities.

That makes for a lot of tactics, but bad-guy hackers are nothing if not inventive, and, as a result, successfully defending a network requires a response that is at least as inventive. That, in turn, is one of the things that makes cybersecurity so compelling and exciting a field.

What Will I Learn in a Cybersecurity Class?

You can spend four years or longer at university studying cybersecurity, and exit with either a bachelor’s or a master's degree in the subject. Some students major in computer science as undergraduates, and then attack cybersecurity as graduate students. That said, you can also enter the field without a degree if you’re willing to start out in humbler IT roles and work your way into a cybersecurity role.

The sine qua non of any cybersecurity education is understanding computer networking. That’s why the IT department is often the proving ground for those who would move into cybersecurity as a career. Computer networking isn’t just a matter of plugging cords into the wall: networks need to be constructed so as to minimize vulnerabilities that will expose a system to a cyberattack. In addition to those basics, you’ll learn about basic defense measures such as virtual private networks (VPNs), firewalls, and intrusion detection systems. Your course will also touch upon data in all their various forms, as well as the ways in which they can be secured from theft, being taken hostage, or damaged.

In addition to these fundamentals, you’ll also have to learn quite a bit about the operating systems that make computers do what they do. As the cloud’s importance increases daily, you’ll need to understand how it operates and how to keep it safe. You can work in cybersecurity with minimal coding knowledge, but knowing how to program a computer is definitely not going to hurt your job chances. Among the languages deployed in the field are:

• Python (always a good place to start),
• C,
• C++.
• SQL (the database querying language),
• JavaScript (used by nearly every website),
• Java (useful for writing programs that secure systems), and
• Ruby (a preferred language of hackers, both black- and white-hatted.)

Again, coding isn’t absolutely essential to a career in cybersecurity, but consider this: viruses are just pieces of venomous code, and just as you fight fire with fire, you fight code with code. Knowing how to do that can be invaluable as far as furthering your career is concerned.

Will I Need to Be Certified to Get a Job in Cybersecurity?

Absolutely.

Unlike many other tech fields in which certifications are nice things to have, but are in no way essential to landing a job, cybersecurity is one field in which professionals are expected to be certified in multiple aspects of their work. If they aren’t, they will have their resumes summarily consigned to the Memory Hole. The world of cybersecurity certifications is one of Byzantine complexity, as there is a vast number of certifying authorities (the International Risk Management Certification Board, CertNexus, EC-Council, ISACA, ISC2, OffSec, and CompTIA.) More confusingly still, the certifications themselves seem to have been named by someone who was enjoying a bowl of alphabet soup that contained an inordinate amount of Cs: A+, ITF+, CFR, CSA, CySA, CEH, CISM, CSSLP, CISSP, ISSMP, CC and OSDA.

It’s as confusing as it sounds. Similarly confusing is the distinction between certifications and certificates. In the world of cybersecurity (and tech education in general), the terms denote things far more different from cheesesteaks with or without grilled onions. Certifications are objective assessments of your cybersecurity knowledge. They’re administered by neutral third parties. Certificates are earned by completing an intensive course and are awarded by the school you attended. You basically need a certificate (or a diploma) to get a certification.

Most likely, the first certification you’ll pursue is the CompTIA A+. Obtaining the certification involves passing two 90-minute exams, one that concentrates on the cloud, mobile devices and hardware, and one that tests your knowledge of operating systems, software troubleshooting, and security. CompTIA recommends a year or thereabouts of experience working with the materials covered by the exam before you sit for it. Pearson VUE administers the exam, which you can take either in one of its testing centers or, using online proctoring technology, in the comfort of your own home.

Although CompTIA recommends that year’s experience before sitting for the exam, the CompTIA A+ is nonetheless an entry-level certification for people who are headed into IT careers, and not specifically cybersecurity. Other entry-level certifications include ISC2’s SSCP (Systems Security Certified Practitioner) and CC (Certified in Cybersecurity). The latter is designed for people with no work experience as yet, while the former is again designed for those with a year’s experience in the field.

Obtaining the CompTIA A+ doesn't mean you're finished with certifications. You’ll encounter them at every level and for every specialty in the profession. Bottom line, you’ll be taking a lot of tests if you go into cybersecurity.

How Hard is It to Learn Cybersecurity?

You don’t learn to keep a computer network safe from cybercriminals overnight. The field is a complex one that is constantly in flux as the bad actors create new ways to manufacture mayhem. White hat hackers have to stay a step ahead of their black-hatted opposite numbers, but, more often than not, they find themselves trying to catch up to them. Some cyberattacks are easily foiled such as the 2017 “WannaCry” ransomware attack that was stopped by a not-exactly-ethical hacker, Marcus Hutchins, who discovered a kill switch in the virus. Others less so, including the 2023 zero-day attack and subsequent data breach at Progress Software that impacted everything from the BBC to Boots and from British Airways to the Government of Nova Scotia. The prevailing theory is that the attack was the work of the Russian cyber gang Cl0P (Clop), and, while the virus has largely been contained, the cybercriminals remain at large, along with an estimated $75 million in ransom payments.

There’s less math and computer science involved in cybersecurity than there is in, for example, software development. More important than those skills is problem-solving capabilities, since, bottom line, cybersecurity is nothing but solving problems, sometimes very big ones. It also takes a degree of psychology, since you’ll have to figure out how hackers think if you’re to stop them. Other things a cybersecurity professional needs to know include understanding the legalities of cybercrime, and possessing a solid grasp of how networks function. There’s a lot more to that than just plugging in cables and staple-gunning them to baseboards (but be aware that you’re likely to start out doing that kind of glamorous work.)

If you’re looking for a career in a field that’s always changing and that requires you to use your mind as much as your programming abilities, you’ll be a good fit for cybersecurity. You’ll find it considerably less technically complex than many other information technology fields: learning to code is probably harder than learning the fundamentals of cybersecurity. Although, as with learning anything, the way your brain works will play a role in how easy you find it yourself.

Is It Worth It to Learn Cybersecurity?

Different things can be worth it for different reasons to different people. The classic hacker hacks for fun, thrills, and sometimes bitcoin, and has little concern for jobs that pay well and offer room for career growth. If you’re not in it for the thrills and bitcoin, there is a healthy supply of legitimate cybersecurity jobs. Bureau of Labor Statistics figures for 2023 show that more than 180,000 Information Security Analysts (read: cybersecurity professionals) are active across the country. Growth in the field is predicted to grow by an enormous 33% by 2033. The national average for predicted job growth lies somewhere around 4%, so, if you’re worried about there being jobs in the field, don’t. There should be 60,000 new jobs available in the next ten years, along with 17,000 openings every year from people leaving the field or retiring. (That, in turn, means that you can make enough in cybersecurity to be able to afford retirement.)

The median annual salary for Information Security Analysts in the United States is $120,000. That’s a handsome number, but it’s also a median, which means that half of the people working in the field make less than that. In the Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington statistical area (a creation of the Bureau of Labor Statistics), the mean wage for people working in the field is $125,000 per annum. Again, a lot of people make less than that, but, with some perseverance, those kinds of six-figure salaries should be within reach. The cost of living in Philadelphia is only 3% higher than the national average, so you’ll get more from the salary you make than in other metropolitan centers.

On the downside is a location quotient of only 0.83, which means that the number of people employed in the field is somewhat less than the national average of 1. Thus, cybersecurity isn’t thriving in the City of Brotherly Love the way it is in some other cities (Washington, DC leads this particular pack), but the Philadelphians who do work in the field are generally well remunerated for their efforts. That can certainly be taken to mean that an investment in a cybersecurity education will be worth it in the long run.

Philadelphia Industries That Employ Cybersecurity Professionals

In today’s online climate, no business in any industry can afford to ignore cybersecurity. Online payments require encryption, which falls every bit as much under the aegis of cybersecurity as does foiling ransomware attacks. The increasingly prevalent annoying two-step authentication systems are also the invention of a cybersecurity team. And, as evil-intentioned hackers persist in coming up with more villainous schemes for spreading chaos, the need for people who can contain those threats grows greater with each passing day.

That said, Atomic City Comics doesn’t require the same cybersecurity measures as Comcast, Vanguard or Jefferson Health. Philadelphia’s industrial sector profile is decidedly catholic, but all those companies share the need for cybersecurity teams to defend their networks and the data they contain. Without extensive prophylactic measures, all that information (credit card details, social security numbers, medical records, etc.) would be a giant sitting duck for cybercriminals.

Cybersecurity jobs, therefore, exist in a wide range of industries in Philadelphia to such an extent that there’s really no telling where you might wind up working. Major corporations all have extensive cybersecurity departments, but you can also find work with one of the many independent firms in the Philadelphia area. These work to protect networks and data just like in-house cybersecurity teams but are better suited to the needs of medium-sized and small businesses that don’t require (or can’t afford) cybersecurity experts onsite every day of the week. Such enterprises come in all sizes, from firms with hundreds of employees down to individual freelancers who can do very well for themselves working independently. Freelancing has a lot to recommend it, but it’s not without its drawbacks, not the least of which is that you’re always hustling for work. If your goal is to work for yourself one day, however, cybersecurity offers possibilities in that direction.

Is There Anything I Should Learn in Addition to Cybersecurity?

Emphatically, yes.

You should learn as much as you can about computer networks, both setting them up and maintaining them, as well as all the other operations carried out by an IT department. The probability is that you’re going to begin your career working in an IT role, and probably not a very glamorous one. You’re probably going to find yourself wielding a box cutter to unpack hardware, helping people who are having software or hardware problems at their workstations, recovering lost passwords, blocking inappropriate sites, and, maybe, doing some rudimentary cybersecurity work.

Some of this will be covered in your cybersecurity course, but the more you know about it, the more attractive you’ll be for an IT role, many of which are available to candidates without college degrees. Among the skills you’ll need to learn are:

• How to operate operating systems,
• How to construct and maintain a network,
• How to operate basic software (such as Excel and Microsoft Word),
• How to troubleshoot the problems that arise on your network,
• How to analyze data, and
• How to implement basic cybersecurity strategies.

The reason you’ll need to know how to use Excel isn’t that you’re going to be groomed to be an actuary, but because you’ll have to be able to answer users’ questions about the software, especially if you start out working (as you well may) at a help desk. IT is going to continue to be an in-demand field in its own right, and, so, if cybersecurity doesn’t work out for you for whatever reason, you’ll have IT skills on which to fall back. You should never underestimate the importance of having a contingency plan.

Should I Learn Cybersecurity Online or Live?

Having made the decision to pursue a cybersecurity career, you’ll next have to decide how you’re going to acquire the skills you’ll need to get started in the field. There are three teaching modalities available in today’s world, and they apply to learning everything from rocket science to how to play mah jongg: learning live in-person, learning live online, and learning from a self-paced course. You’re probably best acquainted with the first of these learning methods: being in the same room as the teacher and your fellow students is how your school experience unfolded, starting from kindergarten. There are drawbacks to this method, including the bother of having to get to the school building, as well as the increasing rarity of such classes as the world shifts increasingly online.

Indeed, live online classes are the direction in which the market is trending, and they are not lacking in advantages. That explains why even degree-granting programs are increasingly to be encountered live online. It’s even more true of certificate (non-degree) programs, which, thanks to the magic of the internet, are able to open their cybersecurity classes to people all across the country and even abroad. In a live online class, you’ll be working in a virtual classroom, which means you’ll be learning from a place of your own (preferably a comfortable one), but will still be able to interact with your instructor in real-time. The click of a button raises your digital hand, and the click of another allows you to join in a group chat, or even an individual one, should you get the urge to pass notes in class.

A self-paced online course is a series of pre-recorded video tutorials that you can view anytime and anywhere you want. There’s no live teacher, which means there’s no one to whom you can address questions. You can certainly pick up quite a bit of knowledge from talking heads, but the experience is nothing like having a live teacher at your disposal.

Your best bet, therefore, is the live online class, which offers you something of the best of both worlds, i.e., human contact with the teacher as well as the ability to study from your own home, if not (as is possible with self-paced classes) at whatever time you want. You’ll also have the largest choice of schools and programs from which to choose, as, unlike live in-person classes, live online classes can be broadcast across the globe (well, almost: there’s always internet-free Turkmenistan), and they can cast the broadest possible nets for students.

Can I Learn Cybersecurity for Free Online?

Free online cybersecurity classes exist in abundance on YouTube, ranging from programs that claim they can teach you how to hack (computers, not chicken) in six minutes to what often turn out to be free samples of lengthier paid courses. In addition to the inescapable defect of not offering you a teacher with whom you can interact, these tutorials are also often out-of-date, having sat around on a YouTube server in an industrial suburb of Santiago, Chile, for as long as four years. Given the pace at which the cybersecurity field evolves, tutorials dating back several years are just about useless today.

Despite all those concerns, free video tutorials do have their uses. They allow you to get your feet wet and determine, free of cost, whether cybersecurity is right for you in the first place. Rather than investing in a paid entrée right off the bat, you can get a technical amuse-bouche from a YouTube tutorial. You may discover that you hate it, and have saved yourself quite a bit of time and money. If you do choose to experiment with a YouTube tutorial, you should take care that the video you choose is no more than six months old.

You should be aware that the concerns about video tutorials being past their better-if-used-by dates apply to paid in-demand courses as well. Thus you should be careful to ensure that, if you do sign up for an asynchronous course, the videos are of the most recent vintage possible. The wine metaphor notwithstanding, IT classes age more like milk than Chateau Cheval Blanc ‘47, so make sure you’re paying for up-to-date materials. And, in general, do what you can to locate a live online class if you can; characterizing asynchronous classes as a means of last resort is perhaps overstating things, but if your goal is a new career, you will have an easier time getting started with a certificate from a course with a live teacher on your resume.

Corporate Cybersecurity Training with Noble Desktop

Does your team, whatever its size, need cybersecurity training? That could mean in-depth study of the latest trends in cybercrime for your IT department, or it could mean a briefer class that will teach all your employees about the dangers posed by phishing, smishing and social engineering attacks on their email boxes and mobile devices. The more your employees know about cybersecurity, the more secure your work network is going to be.

Noble Desktop, an online school that’s been teaching IT and design classes for over two decades, can provide you and your organization with just the kind of cybersecurity course you require. The school can send out an experienced teacher to teach your employees live onsite, or can use Zoom (or another teleconferencing platform) to set up a live online class for groups both large and small. You can also avail yourself of Noble’s voucher program, which will allow your employees to take one or more of Noble’s regularly scheduled cybersecurity classes. Noble offers discounted packages for multiple purchases. Should you have any questions, please contact the corporate sales department at Noble Desktop for further details.