Breaking Into Cyber Security From Another IT Role

Cyber security is one of the most in-demand areas in Australian IT, and you do not need a hoodie and a dark room to get started. 🕶️ Many great security professionals came from networking, sysadmin, cloud, development or support.

Transferable skills you probably already have

• Networking: firewalls, routing and traffic analysis
• Systems administration: hardening, patching and access control
• Cloud: IAM, logging and secure architecture
• Development: secure coding and application security
• Support: incident handling, troubleshooting and calm under pressure

Popular entry points

1. SOC Analyst: monitoring alerts and investigating incidents
2. Identity and Access Management: a great fit for sysadmins
3. Cloud Security Engineer: a natural move for cloud engineers
4. GRC Analyst: policies, Essential Eight and risk, great for business-minded people
5. Application Security: for developers who like breaking things (responsibly)

Certifications that help you start

• CompTIA Security+ or equivalent foundation certs
• Microsoft SC-200 or SC-300, or AWS Security Specialty
• Later: CISSP, OSCP or CISM depending on your path

Practical steps

• Volunteer for security tasks in your current role
• Build a home lab and document what you learn
• Try capture-the-flag events and online labs
• Learn the Australian context: Essential Eight, the ISM and privacy obligations
• If you are an Australian citizen, consider roles that sponsor clearances

👉 Browse cyber security roles or register your CV.