Cybersecurity Architects

There are many ways to learn more about cybersecurity and occupations in the field. IBM’s What is a Cyberattack? (https://www.ibm.com/topics/cyber-attack) provides a good primer. The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Careers and Studies’ Cyber Career Pathways Tool, https://niccs.cisa.gov/workforce-development/cyber-career-pathways-tool, is a useful resource to learn more about cybersecurity education and career paths. Check out the SANS Cyber Security Blog (https://www.sans.org/blog) and other cybersecurity blogs to learn more about developments in the field.

Participate in cybersecurity competitions to hone your skills. Examples include:

• National Cyber League: https://nationalcyberleague.org
• CyberPatriot National Youth Cyber Defense Competition: https://www.uscyberpatriot.org/competition/Competition-Overview/competition-overview
• Technology Student Association: https://tsaweb.org/competitions
• SkillsUSA: http://www.skillsusa.org

Some professional organizations have membership categories for students. For example, the Association for Computing Machinery offers membership for high school and college students. Members receive XRDS (the organization’s magazine for students) and other resources.

Other exploration methods include joining your school’s technology club, participating in information interviews and job shadowing experiences with cybersecurity architects, and getting involved in summer cybersecurity and IT exploration programs for high school students at colleges and universities.