How did this profession come about?

With the rapid development of digital technologies at the very beginning of the 21st century, smartphones, computers, tablets, cars and even household appliances contain a huge amount of data. Information systems in business, commerce and finance have reached enormous volumes and have become what we call "big data."

At the same time, there was a threat of theft of this data, their damage or even substitution - for mercenary purposes. In order to resist cybercriminals, cybersecurity specialists are needed. Currently, they are solving two main tasks - on the one hand, to eliminate the damage that cybercriminals cause to digital data, on the other, to anticipate their intentions and create complex security systems that such "attackers" cannot overcome.

Cybersecurity specialists work in large financial and IT companies, they may even be involved in national security tasks. In a world where almost everything is digitalized, even the most important technologies are available for kidnapping or harm, because they are located in the theoretically accessible space of the digital world. Therefore, it is easy to understand how important such a profession is for the future, because there will be more and more “big data” - and the need to protect it will only grow.

Let's see what such a professional can face in his work. Of course, this is not a complete list, but we will look at the most interesting aspects.

What types of threats do cybersecurity professionals work with?

Financial sector

Cybercriminals are very creative when it comes to stealing other people's money. Not long ago, cyber police arrested criminals who attacked thousands of online stores around the world. With the help of a cunning virus, they analyzed website traffic and stole data on customers' bank cards. Here you need to understand that when the user enters his information into the form on the site or the site sends you some data, the browser and the store server exchange data packets - and they are not always reliably protected. Thanks to this, the virus stole money from users' cards when they tried to make a purchase on the site.

Hacking smart systems

You may know that any modern city has automatic control systems - from traffic lights to providing residents with electricity and the Internet. The most important thing is that all these systems are interconnected in a single network. And it is enough for attackers to hack one link to make all the others go out of order. There is a simple rule - the more interconnected devices in the system, the more vulnerable it is to attack. For example, criminals can use a regular street light or lantern to shut off electricity throughout a city.

Cyberethics

Cybersecurity professionals can deal with more than purely technical issues. For example, they can develop algorithms for the safe functioning of artificial intelligence and robots. They program unmanned vehicles, assistant robots, medical robots to stop their activities in cases where they can threaten the life and health of their users. Also, a cyber-ethicist can analyze “smart” cyber-prostheses and implantable devices in medicine - so that they also cannot harm the patient in any situation.

Personal data security

Today, billions of people trust their personal information to the Internet. If you have a page on a social network, you probably indicated there your first and last name, age, school where you study, posted your photo. But you can customize filters and you decide who can see your account - just you, only friends or any registered user. A cybersecurity specialist develops security systems for social networks, e-mail, messengers like Whatsapp - so that attackers do not have the opportunity to steal personal data or confidential (undisclosed) information.