Best Cybersecurity Certifications for Beginners
This is the second blog in a series discussing the best cybersecurity certifications for beginners. Cyberseek.org has a really good interactive map that breaks down different job roles and industries. This site breaks down several entry-level cybersecurity roles like a Cybersecurity Specialist, Cybercrime Analyst, and Incident and Intrusion Analyst, and shows different industries they tie into. Regardless of the cybersecurity job path you decide to go down, Information Security is one of the top skills to add for each of these roles.
Which certification is best for cybersecurity for beginners?
With the vast number of cybersecurity certifications available, it can be difficult to know which ones would be ideal for learning Information Security. Many sites and articles will list things like CEH or CISSP for beginners, and although these are incredible programs for information security, these certifications are typically aligned with more experienced professionals who have been industry experience. But there have been few options for true entry-level information security certifications, which is where the CCT comes in.
One of the best entry-level certifications recently designed by the EC-Council is their Certified Cybersecurity Technician (CCT) program. The creator of the Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification designed this new program for entry-level cybersecurity professionals to address the demand for qualified specialists. The CCT certification is one of the best information security certifications that provide a truly foundational understanding of key cybersecurity concepts.
What Are the Benefits of Becoming a Certified Cybersecurity Technician?
Becoming a CCT opens the door to careers in many IT and cybersecurity niches, including networking, systems administration, and security operations center (SOC) analysis. These are all high-paying, in-demand positions. For example, the average cybersecurity engineer in the United States earns over USD 120,000 per year (ZipRecruiter, 2022), with even entry-level cybersecurity analysts making around USD 72,000 on average (Salary.com, 2022). Becoming a CCT can get you started in a rapidly expanding field that is expected to provide multiple avenues of growth over time.
Additional benefits of becoming a CCT include learning a wide variety of skills that will form a foundation for your work in cybersecurity. Just a few of these skills include:
- Providing technical cybersecurity support
- Troubleshooting network security problems and monitoring alerts
- Applying appropriate standards to protect organizations’ information assets
Finally, the CCT course offers a robust and uniquely hands-on curriculum. The CCT covers a broad range of cybersecurity topics, encompassing the fundamentals of cybersecurity, identification of security threats and vulnerabilities, network security controls, security design, testing techniques, and much more. All these skills are highly specialized, high-paying, and much needed in today’s digital environments.
What Are the Benefits of Hands-On Training?
There’s no question that extensive benefits are associated with any academic learning. However, when it comes to cybersecurity, studying books and retaining knowledge simply isn’t enough. To succeed in this field, you need more than theory—you need practice and real-world experience.
In your CCT studies, you’ll spend 50% of your time actually applying your knowledge in hands-on labs. This means you’ll develop practical skills and learn real-world techniques to help you identify vulnerabilities, build cybersecurity defenses, and ensure that computer networks are prepared to manage breaches.
This course offers ample immersive experience through 85 wide-ranging labs covering numerous scenarios within network defense, ethical hacking, digital forensics, and more. These highly realistic scenarios provide the practice opportunities you need to prepare for a career in cybersecurity and help you develop the critical thinking skills necessary to become a world-class cybersecurity professional.
Ready to achieve your first cybersecurity certification?
You can find additional information about becoming a CCT through our Phishbuster Academy training center. These cybersecurity certification bootcamps are ideal for anyone looking to break into this incredible field. You can also contact us if you have any questions.