How Long Does It Take To Learn Cyber Security?
How much time it take to learn Cyber Security and Information Security and become a Cyber Security Engineer
Hello guys, if you want to become a Cyber Security Engineer or a Cyber Security Analyst and wondering how long it take to learn all essential Cyber Security concepts then you have come to the right place.
Earlier, I have shared best Cyber Security certification courses, Pen testing certification courses, Cyber Security books, and Ethical Hacking online courses to become a Security specialist in 2024 and in this article, I am going to share how you can learn Cyber Security and how much time it take to learn Cyber Security concepts, tools, and practices.
Cyber security is a massive industry that involves protecting data from unauthorized access either locally on your devices such as a laptop, computer, phone, router, local network, or the data on the server that holds the companies data such as users information and their credit card.
This article will help you estimate the time needed for learning cyber security and which skills are essential.
Though, if you want to learn faster and better, I suggest you to join a structured certification program like the Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate or Microsoft Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate, both ware very well structured and teach you all essential Cyber Security skills and tools in 2 to 3 months, depending upon how much you spend.
For example, Google’s cyber security program will take you 6 months to complete if you can spend 7 hours a week but you can easily finish it in one month if you can spend 40 hours a week.
Similarly, Microsoft’s Cyber Security Analyst program will take 6 month if you can spend 10 hours per week.
1. How long does it take to understand cyber security?
Let’s’ face it, learning cyber security can take forever to complete, especially if you try to learn everything I shared on this CyberSecurity RoadMap.
You can’t’ say that I’ve’ finished this industry whatever years you’ve’ spent in this domain.
Still, I can say that with regular study, you could be an entry-level cyber security professional at least in two years.
This amount of time will also depend on the time you spend every day to learn the skills required to be a professional cyber security engineer and how much you will understand because it varies by person.
One of the best and faster way to learn Cyber Security in 2024 is to either join an online course like The Complete Cyber Security Course on Udemy or join a structured certification program like the — Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate
2. Can you learn cyber security by yourself?
Cyber security can be self-taught like any other topic because there are abundant resources available on the internet for learning almost anything, and cyber security is one of them.
Many companies hire professional cyber security who learned it in their homes without even a college degree.
You can learn the fundamentals of this industry from YouTube videos, online learning websites such ass Udemy, Pluralsight, Coursera, edX etc. .
Reading books is also helpful since tons of books are available on Amazon for cyber security, but you need to see the author’s background before purchasing any book.
3. How much will every skill take to learn?
Cyber security domains never end, and it requires a lot of skills and fields you have to understand to be just an entry-level cyber security specialist, which is why it takes a long time to learn the basics, not even master them. Let’s now see some of the skills that a cyber security specialist needs to have:
3.1. Linux System
you can’t even consider yourself a cyber security specialist without understanding how to use the Linux system. Many services run on the Linux system, and the tools used for cyber security run on this system.
You can take this course, Learning Linux for LFCA Certification, to understand Linux and its security, and it will take approximately two months.
3.2. Python Programming Language
If you want to create a tool used in security like network scanning, then no language can perform this better than python. This language is fundamentals for every cyber security specialist and easy to learn.
You can take this course called Python for Everybody to learn the basics of this language will take you approximately four months.
3.4. Networking
We all know that no system is immune to cyber-attacks, and networks are the same that means stable and good network security is mandatory to protect your client’s data.
Cyber security specialists need to learn these skills, and it is essential to employers if you have this in your belt. This course, Computer Communications, will help you understand these skills and will take around three months.
3.5. C/C++ Languages
Cyber security specialists need to know many programming languages, but they need to learn python and C/C++ languages to find vulnerabilities in software and create tools that exploit these vulnerabilities. This course, Coding for Everyone: C and C++, will help you learn both languages and will take you around three months to complete.
4. Courses Recommendations
After you get some of the skills required for cyber security specialists, I recommend you enroll in these few courses to help you learn this industry and maybe get your first job. Let’s see these courses:
4.1. Introduction to Cyber Security
You can start your cyber security journey by enrolling in this course which will help you develop a deep understanding of modern data protection technologies and learn enterprise infrastructure security.
4.2. Complete Cybersecurity Bootcamp: Zero to Mastery
This is another tremendous and long course with over 15 hours of video content that will help you deep-dive into cyber security and understand terms such as information classification and retention policies. You will also learn about operating systems, cryptography, and physical system security.
4.3. Computer Hacking Beginners Guide
This fantastic book will help you learn to protect yourself against cyber attacks and understand how hacking works by using different techniques and tools used by cybercriminals and even ethical hackers.
Conclusion
That’s all about how much time it take to learn CyberSecurity in 2024. You have seen that you need to learn not just Cyber Security but also Linux, Computer Science, Networking, and other tools to become a Cyber Security Engineer.
It can take anywhere between 6 month to 1 year but if you spend 40 hours a week, you can definitely learn enough Cyber security in 1 month by using online courses and projects to apply for Cyber security jobs.
Other Certification Resources for IT Professionals and Java Programmers
- How to Pass Azure Cloud Architect (AZ-300) Certification
- 5 Best CompTIA Security+ Courses for Beginners
- Top 5 Courses to Crack AWS Solution Architect Certification
- How to become a DevOps Engineer in 2024
- How long it take to learn Python?
- 5 Free Mock Test to pass AWS Solution Architect Associate exam
- 5 Free Courses to Learn Linux Command Line
- Top 5 Free Courses to Learn Git for Programmers
- 15 best Docker and Kubernetes Courses for Developers
- My Favorite AWS and Cloud Computing Courses for Beginners
- Is Google CyberSecurity Certification worth it?
- Google vs Microsoft CyberSecurity Professional Certificate?
Thanks for reading! This article is only an overview of some of the skills you need to be a cyber security specialist, and you can’t learn everything in this domain, but these skills are a good start in cyber security.
P. S. — If you want to learn Cyber Security and Information Security but looking for free online courses to start with then you can also check out this free Cyber Security course: Cyber Security Course for Beginners — Level 01 on Udemy to start with.
