Cyber security is a huge issue for companies in all industries. In health IT alone, 67 percent of organizations have suffered a security incident, according to a survey released in June, 2014 by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS). Among those surveyed, 90 percent said that cybersecurity had become a higher priority for their organization over the previous year.
This focus on cyber security represents an opportunity for IT professionals. In fact, according to research produced by my company, HealthITJobs.com, on the health IT talent shortage, cyber security was named one of the top needed skills.
Highly effective cyber security analysts are needed to prevent sophisticated attacks, but what makes an analyst effective?
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Curiosity and creativity
Cyber security analysts need to think like a hacker. They need to look for weaknesses in the system and find new ways to be able to break in. This mindset requires both creativity and curiosity.
Curious analysts find threats and possible attacks. By poking around the system and trying new things, they can find vulnerable spots in the system before hackers do. With this knowledge, effective professionals then tap into their creative sides.
Although IT jobs seem more calculated and technical, creativity is extremely important. In a survey of more than 500 leaders in the communication, tech, and business development industries conducted by Hyper Island in 2013, creativity was the second most desired trait in employees.
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In the fast moving cyber security industry, it’s not hard to see why creativity is a must. In the survey from HIMSS, 80 percent of respondents said that security technologies must evolve. Creative analysts will drive this evolution with new and innovative security solutions.
Trustworthiness
As a cyber security analyst, you have access to your employer’s most sensitive information, and it’s your job to protect it. But employees can’t always be trusted.
The HIMSS survey reported that 64 percent of respondents said an insider was the source of a significant security incident. In addition, 46 percent said internal negligence was the cause of recent incidents.
Information is leaked both intentionally and unintentionally. To be highly effective, your boss needs to have confidence in your skills and your professionalism to keep their data safe.
Yet, a survey of office workers from the U.K. and Germany conducted in the summer of 2014 by Imation found that 75 percent of respondents have taken digital files outside the office. In fact, IT professionals were the most likely to do so. What’s more, 44 percent did not encrypt the data before taking it from the workplace.
Just because you make the security rules for the office, doesn’t mean you don’t have to follow them. Effective cyber security analysts follow the rules to avoid unintentional breaches and to demonstrate to their employers that they can be trusted with company information.
Drive
Technology is a constantly changing field, and successful cyber security analysts have the drive to stay on top of those changes. The technology and systems analysts work with continually evolve and so do the tactics attackers use.
Cyber criminals innovate ways to get into systems, manipulate new technologies, and cover up their tracks. Security analysts who aren’t well informed are more likely to leave their employers vulnerable to attacks.
But there are a lot of technologies to learn and keep abreast of updates. Organizations surveyed by HIMSS use an average of 11 different technologies for network security efforts. As hackers become more sophisticated, more and more technology will be needed to keep data safe.
Effective analysts are always learning about new technology and the latest industry trends. They have the drive and energy to expand their knowledge and maintain an expansive amount of information, to be the best employee they can be.
Being an effective cyber security analyst isn’t easy, but those with the ambition and mindset to innovate will be the most successful.
What do you think? What other traits do effective cyber security analysts need to have?
Tim Cannon is the vice president of product management and marketing at HealthITJobs.com, the largest free job search resource connecting busy health IT professionals with relevant opportunities in the health IT field with minimal effort. He is a 20-year veteran of internet marketing with technical expertise and a focus in search engine marketing, mobile applications & web analytics.
Photo: BigStock Photos
Tim Cannon is the vice president of product management and marketing at HealthITJobs.com, the largest free job search resource connecting busy health IT professionals with relevant opportunities in the health IT field with minimal effort. He is a 20-year veteran of internet marketing with technical expertise and a focus in search engine marketing, mobile applications & web analytics.
