Studies & Degrees in Network Security

Choose where you would like to study Network Security:

Network security is vital to any company, regardless of its size, as it encompasses all the actions taken to ensure the protection of the firm’s computer system. Any breakage in the network security system may lead to a hacker or competitor gaining access to crucial data, or even total loss of data and crashing of the system.

Usually it is the system administrator that is in charge of network security, and his or her tasks include building a firewall for the network; teaching other users how to safeguard their data and raise network efficiency; developing plans on how to protect company information from unauthorized use or theft; regularly assessing risks in order to ensure network security is up to date and constantly improved.

Personal Qualities

Very good IT skills are a natural prerequisite for being in charge of Network Security. Here are some other qualities you might explore:

• Ability to think in a logical and analytical way
• Be good at maths
• Imagination and creativity
• Problem-solving skills
• Ability to communicate IT jargon in everyday language to people from other departments
• Perform well both on individual tasks and as a part of a team
• Not afraid of being in charge and accepting responsibility
• Ability to adapt to new technologies

Study Options

To be responsible for network security, you would need a bachelor’s degree in computer science or a related field. Such a degree will equip you with further skills that include the design and implementation of software, the creation of programming languages, the employing and comparing of algorithms, the designing and building of computer systems, and many others. There are other degree options that you might pursue too, and examples are Network Engineering, Software Engineering, or laboratory research and development.

Because this is a constantly developing area, where new knowledge is gained all the time, a good move would be to research a university with up-to-date technology and faculty staff with industry experience. An institution with a reputation of innovation and continual advancement would be very suitable. Experience is extremely important in this field, for which reason you should pursue options for internships that will help you gain invaluable skills.

Last but not least, you should keep in mind that during your career you will need to frequently explore options for continuing education, workshops, and lectures if you wish to upgrade your skills to competitive levels.

Career Options

Career options with a background in computer science or a related field are very diverse. As already discussed, every company needs a system administrator and IT specialists to support its computer systems, and we also have to acknowledge the specialized IT companies in need of skilled professionals. Job offerings for such specialists seem to increase all the time, and these are some of the biggest companies with open job positions: Cisco, Microsoft Corporation, Google, Apple Computers, Yahoo, Amazon.com, etc.

These are some job titles that you can also look at: Systems Analyst – employing data modeling to find the best solution for the client and monitoring data flow to increase efficiency; Computer Tester – testing newly built systems; Data modeler; Network Engineer; Systems Administrator, and other related job titles.