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The guardians of cyber space

In a country like India which is progressing fast towards becoming a truly digital-first economy by reaching $1 trillion within the next five years, the discourse around cyber security has acquired an increasing significance.

The guardians of  cyber space


Sanjay Katkar

In a country like India which is progressing fast towards becoming a truly digital-first economy by reaching $1 trillion within the next five years, the discourse around cyber security has acquired an increasing significance. The rapidly-evolving digital world is further driven by futuristic trends such as driverless cars, product deliveries by drones, augmented reality, and weapon systems driven by artificial intelligence. 

In the past decade, data has gained significant importance for both government and corporates so much so that it has become the next oil. Data protection is important from the point of view of empowerment, progress and innovation. However, this has also lead to a rise in cyber security threats and cyber-crimes which include attacks ranging from stealing information, espionage, weaponising software by installing malicious scripts. This has necessitated government and businesses to employ cyber security experts for protecting themselves from such cyber threats. 

But sadly, despite this increase in demand for cyber security experts across all verticals, the supply is nowhere near satisfactory. Cyber security is predicted to be a $35 billion market opportunity with over 1 million jobs according to NASSCOM; however, the year 2021 is said to exceed 3.5 million unfilled cyber security jobs around the world. The financial sector alone is expected to hire over 2 lakh people while other sectors like power, oil & gas, airlines, law and order, e-governance etc. will hire the rest. To cater to this ever growing demand, a plan to create a workforce of 5 lakh skilled cyber security professionals has also been outlined by Government of India through the National Cyber Security Policy 2013.

Educational qualifications 

Moreover, IT security and cyber security have also been included into the undergraduate and postgraduate curriculum in some of the institutions as per the UGC's recommendations. Enrolling in a suitable degree programme offers different levels of cyber security preparedness for life as an IT security professional. 

In Pune, Savitribai Phule Pune University is offering an MTech degree in the domain of information security where classes are held over weekends. The programme also provides opportunities to the working professionals who wish to explore better opportunities in the area of cyber security. Also Dehradun's Quantum School of Technology is offering a BTech (Hons.) in Computer Science & Engineering with specialisation in cyber security. 

The curriculum taught at some of the most prolific cyber security colleges in India covers a range of topics such as application security, network security, IT security, as well as disaster recovery. The practical hands-on training also fosters skill development and employability. 

While a number of Indian institutions offer a course in cyber security, some of the most renowned ones include Indian Institute of Information Technology and Management (Kerala), Amity University (Noida), Gujarat Forensic Sciences University, All India Institute of Management Studies (AIIMAS) (Chennai) and K.K. Modi International Institute (KKMII) /(Delhi). 

Chitkara University in Chandigarh is offering a UG programme in computer science engineering with a specialisation in cyber security. This course promises application-oriented learning where students learn through trial and error and are trained in computer forensics for structured investigations and analysis of cyber-threats. CSE students with a cyber security specialization can find employment as a security architect, risk analyst, cyber threats analyst, etc. or even be prepared for managerial and administrative positions.

Work profile

The duties of a cyber-security professional are complex and multidimensional as they need to be a step ahead of cyber-criminals and hackers at all points in time. Some of these duties include building security mechanisms during the developmental stages of software systems, networks and data centres. Others comprise building firewalls into network infrastructure, running checks for attacks and intrusions, countering attempted breaches, and may even necessitate identifying the perpetrator and reporting to the police or designated authorities. 

These specialists are not only needed by IT companies as even non-IT companies require them. 

What the future holds 

One can say that the future of a career in cyber security is more than just promising. In addition to rewarding remuneration, there are intangible perks of pursuing a career in this field as the job presents amazing learning opportunities due to the complex and constantly evolving nature of cyber threats. Additionally, Cyber Security Ventures predicted that the world is expected to bear an annual cost of $6 trillion by 2021 due to losses caused by cyber-crime. This can be further evidenced by businesses and individuals becoming conscious of cyber security challenges the world over, particularly after the cyber-attacks on large companies such as Equifax, Yahoo, Uber, Zomato, Hitachi payment services, cloudbleed, Interfax etc. As cyber-crime is increasing in sophistication and prevalence at an untraceable pace, employment as an IT security expert is one with tremendous promise of sustainability and growth.

—The writet is Joint Managing Director and Chief Technology Officer, Quick Heal Technologies Ltd.

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