Enabling The “Cipher” Part of Your Brain: Understand, Solve and Demand More

So, how can you spot that someone has a natural ability to be a cybersecurity specialist?

I’ve observed something when teaching cybersecurity — and it’s that some people have natural abilities to solve puzzles that they have not come across before. These people thrive on the challenge and often can’t stop themselves from seeing a puzzle through to the end and then demanding more. And, they don’t just want more of the same, they want new puzzles to solve.

Overall, I observe different characteristics in learning when we use cipher challenges. Often, I see a few students race ahead and are well ahead of the class, and then they cannot stop solving these challenges. With our cipher challenges we make them more difficult as you progress. Some students will give up when the challenges get too difficult, but those with a natural ability will keep going, and enjoy the ever increasing challenge, and the new puzzle to solve. This is both motivation and stamina. In cybersecurity, both are key attributes, especially in areas of digital forensics, cryptographic analysis, incident response and malware analysis.

I would define this natural ability within cybersecurity with three basic traits: