Cybersecurity Certifications for Beginners
Cybersecurity is not for the faint-hearted. That’s why, at the entry-level, you have a lot to learn, from basic security concepts to highly technical skills, before you can land a job.
But luckily for you, there are a lot of cybersecurity certificates and training courses out there. The only problem is that just a handful of them are free and recommendable for cybersecurity enthusiasts at the entry-level.
So, in this article, we’ll talk about those few cybersecurity certifications for beginners, how to earn them, their exam cost, and how they can hone your cybersecurity training program.
But first, let’s ask:
Why Do Beginners Need Cybersecurity Certifications?
Following are some of the reasons to get certifications in cybersecurity that can’t be overlooked:
1. Cybersecurity Certifications Are One of The Best Ways to Break Into Cybersecurity.
To start a cybersecurity career, you need to have a solid foundation about operating systems, cloud technologies, information assurance techniques, security policies, and many others.
All these concepts require very specialized training. For that reason, many security professionals often get a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity, information security, information technology, computer science, and other related fields.
However, if you hail from an unrelated field like medicine, engineering, and accounting, getting good entry-level cybersecurity certifications is an excellent alternative way to get started.
As long as you’re dedicated and ready to learn, you will reach your goal.
In fact, with cybersecurity certificates, you spend lesser time learning. This is because you use fewer training years than security professionals who spend 4-5 years earning a degree.
2. Security Certifications Increase Your Chances of Landing A Good Job.
According to Statista, we expect the cybersecurity industry to reach about US$211.70bn by 2026. This increase is mostly because more companies now crave to use digital means to protect their organization’s critical assets.
So, cybersecurity is indeed a hot cake, and many companies need to be trained hands on deck. But they often find it difficult to find the right talent. For that reason, many of these companies trust only people with globally recognized cybersecurity certificates.
The more cybersecurity certification you own, the more edge you have over others, and the more you can explore the cybersecurity field.
3. Security Certifications Hone Your Skills.
All security certifications have targeted training programs built to improve your skills. If you’re a beginner, such training programs even help you more. This is because often, the internet has enough information to teach you all about cybersecurity.
However, not everything is tailored to teach you the hands-on experience you need to dine with other entry-level professionals.
But with the right entry-level certification, you will be exposed to the practical application of several in-depth defense techniques, network management projects, and other smart ways to use growing technology.
What is the Best Cybersecurity Certification for Beginners Without Experience?
As a complete beginner looking to have a career in cybersecurity, enrolling in these courses below will be a step in the right direction.
Microsoft Technology Associate (MTA) Security Fundamentals
As the name implies, Microsoft issues this certificate as one of many in the Microsoft Certified Professional Program (MCP).
The MTA security fundamentals offer training that teaches beginners software security solutions, network security, fundamentals of security best practices, and other topics.
Requirements
This MTA course has no prerequisites and no conditional work experience. Any interested persons may apply.
So, it’s pretty good for high-school leavers, college students, and anybody looking to switch careers into cybersecurity. All you have to do is take the 2-hour training course and pass a certification exam that costs about $127.
How Will The MTA Improve Your Cybersecurity Career?
With the MTA certificate, you lay the ground for cybersecurity and IT roles like:
- Network security administrators
- Network security architect
- IT security systems specialists and others.
What Are The Best Cybersecurity Certifications for Beginners With Little Experience?
If you have some cybersecurity experience and are ready to take your skills to the next level, then you want to consider the following courses.
1. CompTIA Certifications
You will find many CompTIA security certification programs you can take. But not all their cybersecurity programs fit entry-level professionals. For beginners, we recommend CompTIA Security+.
With it, you can learn about information assurance principles, network security threats, risk management ethics, risk management techniques, data security operations, and cryptography.
Once you complete the training, you can take an exam costing about $311. And once you own it, you can land job roles like network security engineers and infrastructure security.
2. Certified Ethical Hacker Certification (CEH certification)
To gain access to this vendor-neutral certification, you need about two years on the job.
Although, you can attend the training classes even without meeting this requirement.
Now, as an ethical hacker, you will learn about penetration testing, hacking tactics, and cloud security. So, with the CEH certification, you can work as a certified information systems auditor, Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), and a certified information security manager.
3. Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
Over 90,000 cybersecurity professionals have this certificate. So, aspire to have one as well. To own one, you need to have about three years of working experience in information security and about two years in cloud security and other related fields.
Once you qualify, you can sit the CCSP exam, which costs about $549. This makes it quite expensive. But the job opportunity created by the CCSP is totally a good run for your money.
4. System Security Certified Practitioner (SSCP)
To earn an SSCP certification, you need to qualify for the exam, which costs $250.
You need at least one year of cumulative paid work experience in a relevant cyber security field to qualify for the exams.
Then, you will be required to attend webinars and boot camps where you will learn about incident response, application security, and lots more. Once you pass the exams, you can use the certificates to work as a security manager and in many other roles.
Final Recommendations
Yes, getting started as an entry-level cybersecurity professional can be quite daunting. For that reason, experts within the cybersecurity community advise beginners to start up with a cybersecurity certification for beginners.
In this article, we discussed those that are free and those that require no prior experience. However, all these cybersecurity certificates require that you take a certification exam.
To pass, you may need to join one or two cybersecurity boot camps, and you can also opt-in for some free cyber security courses for beginners+.
