3 free Online Cybersecurity Courses in 2024

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3 Free Online Cybersecurity Courses With Certificates In 2024

Divyansh Shrivastava 

Contributor

Award-winning serial entrepreneur and leadership expert.

If you've been looking for a lucrative skill to learn and develop this year and expand or pivot your career, you've no doubt come across cybersecurity. Cybersecurity is a high-income skill that is in major demand by organizations globally.

In fact, you would be hard pressed to find an industry or company that does not need cybersecurity specialists and professionals in some way or another. Demand for this work is projected to increase by 32% over the next few years according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, which is much faster than the average job growth rate, and the cybersecurity market is expected to grow by almost 8% worldwide according to analysts.

Additionally, thanks to its digital nature, many cybersecurity roles can be performed remotely, so you can work from home while making significant money in the cybersecurity industry, which is of course a huge bonus.

But you're most likely wondering, what is cybersecurity anyway and why is it important?

What Is Cybersecurity?

 

In layman's terms, cybersecurity-related professions are focused on protecting and securing an organization's systems from malware and attacks which can infringe on and comprise personal data and information, and potentially expose it to harm and major damages including theft and fraud.

Customers and stakeholders trust a company with their information, and cybersecurity protects this personal information, such as account data, passwords, and personal identifiers such as date of birth, bank details, and I.D. Cybersecurity roles revolve around stopping malicious attacks that come in the form of spyware, viruses, and other intruders that intercept networks, devices, and systems.

What Are Some Cybersecurity Jobs?

Some examples of popular cybersecurity jobs include:

1. Cybersecurity/information security analyst
2. Cybersecurity engineer
3. Cybersecurity architect
4. Penetration tester (ethical hacker)
5. Cybersecurity consultant (including freelance cybersecurity consultant)
6. Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)
7. Incident responder
8. Cryptographer
9. Cybersecurity software developer
10. Vulnerability assessor
11. Forensic computer analyst
12. Network security administrator
13. Identity and Access Management (IAM) specialist
14. Compliance and risk analyst
15. Malware analyst

What Is The Average Salary Range For Cybersecurity Jobs?

While cybersecurity is generally a high-income skill to develop, as a subset of information security, the actual salaries for roles requiring this skill can vary significantly depending on the specific role and function that you choose, including seniority level.

For example, an ethical hacker's average salary in the U.S. is $110,184, while a consultant is $135,000; in sharp contrast, a CISO's makes $244,000 on average, according to Salary.com estimates.