By Bob Weiss
I often get the question from people looking to move into a cybersecurity career, “Where should I start.” The standard answer used to be, “Get an entry-level help desk position and work your way up to cybersecurity.” But with the plethora of IT and cybersecurity university degree programs, technical college programs, and the critical need for cybersecurity professionals in government, business, and industry, that requirement may have changed.
But if you are making the moved into cybersecurity without technical experience, one way to get there is though certification classes and exams. Before you get yourself into an expensive $3000 to $5000 bootcamp experience, try these free certifications. This way you can gain some experience learning the concepts without blowing a bunch of money. This also will give you an idea of the concepts and principles you need to become familiar with.
This list comes from Cybertech Dave Meese
1. Fortinet NSE 1,2 & 3 [https://www.fortinet.com/training-certification]
2. Cisco NetAcad Introduction to Cybersecurity [https://www.netacad.com/courses/cybersecurity/introduction-cybersecurity]
3. Cisco NetAcad Cybersecurity Essentials [https://www.netacad.com/courses/cybersecurity/cybersecurity-essentials]
4. Cisco NetAcad Networking Essentials [https://www.netacad.com/courses/networking/networking-essentials]
5. EC-Council CodeRed Android Bug Bounty Hunting: Hunt Like a Rat [https://codered.eccouncil.org/course/android-bug-bounty-hunting-hunt-like-a-rat?]
6. EC-Council CodeRed Ethical Hacking Essentials (EHE) [https://codered.eccouncil.org/course/ethical-hacking-essentials]
7. EC-Council CodeRed Website Hacking Techniques [https://codered.eccouncil.org/course/website-hacking-techniques]
8. EC-Council CodeRed Digital Forensics Essentials (DFE) [https://codered.eccouncil.org/course/digital-forensics-essentials]
9. EC-Council CodeRed Network Defense Essentials (NDE) [https://codered.eccouncil.org/course/network-defense-essentials]
10. EC-Council CodeRed Introduction to Dark Web, Anonymity, and Cryptocurrency [https://codered.eccouncil.org/course/introduction-to-dark-web-anonymity-and-cryptocurrency]
11. (ISC)2 Certified in Cybersecurity℠ – CC [https://www.isc2.org/Certifications/CC#]
12. 20+ Free AWS Certs Related to Cybersecurity [https://explore.skillbuilder.aws/learn]
Good luck!
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About the Author:
I am a cybersecurity and IT instructor, cybersecurity analyst, pen-tester, trainer, and speaker. I am an owner of the WyzCo Group Inc. In addition to consulting on security products and services, I also conduct security audits, compliance audits, vulnerability assessments and penetration tests. I also teach Cybersecurity Awareness Training classes. I work as an information technology and cybersecurity instructor for several training and certification organizations. I have worked in corporate, military, government, and workforce development training environments I am a frequent speaker at professional conferences such as the Minnesota Bloggers Conference, Secure360 Security Conference in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, the (ISC)2 World Congress 2016, and the ISSA International Conference 2017, and many local community organizations, including Chambers of Commerce, SCORE, and several school districts. I have been blogging on cybersecurity since 2006 at http://wyzguyscybersecurity.com