Statistics released each year from credible sources show a startling fact that cybersecurity incidences are going up at a fast rate. In July 2018, Positive Technologies released a report showing that cyber attacks had increased by 32% in 2018's first quarter compared to the previous year's statistics. Malware attacks alone had increased by 75% since 2017 and had been targeted at individuals, government agencies, and businesses.
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What is common in many cybersecurity incidences is that the targets try to respond to minimize the impacts and then do thorough investigations to find out the cause of the incident. However, there are not many professionals skilled enough to do this. With the frequency of attacks only going up, organizations are finding the need to hire competent personnel that can respond to and mitigate cybersecurity incidences as they happen. Individuals and organizations that have already fallen victim to cyber attacks will be looking for professionals that can trace back the attack in order to prevent future similar attacks.
The problem is that the cybersecurity industry is playing catch-up with cybercriminals, since today's attackers are increasingly becoming sophisticated. Organizations are finding hope in skilled incidence response personnel that have the capabilities to stop attacks as they happen, or drastically reduce the impact. If you train to be an incident response expert, you will hardly be free given the trend that's been observed in the cybersecurity industry. Coupled with this, digital forensics is also now coming into play.
Some organizations that lost money to attackers have been able to track and find part of it due to digital forensics. For instance, Ubiquiti Networks lost $44 million to attackers, and, due to efforts from digital forensic experts, $8 million was recovered shortly afterwards. Therefore, you will also find demand in the digital forensics job market. Incidence response and digital forensics go hand-in-hand and it is best that you learn the two together. If you pursue these two, you will first learn about the techniques used to respond to cybersecurity incidences at different stages. You will also learn about the tools and techniques used in digital forensic investigations. Once equipped with these skills, you will be ready for a promising career in the cybersecurity industry.