Can I Work Remotely in Cybersecurity?

With many industries moving to remote work, the desire for work from home has steadily increased. One such industry that is both in high-demand and has been greatly affected by the skills gap is cybersecurity. Job positions for cybersecurity professionals have grown three times faster than other IT job positions So, can you safely work remotely in a cybersecurity position? And could that potentially help fill some jobs roles up? The answer is yes, and no. They are quite a few job roles in cybersecurity that you can safely work remotely, if you are practicing best policy which may be different depending on each organization, but there are also many roles that must be done in a secure environment of the office due to the nature of sensitive information and necessary clearances. Read on the learn what tools and security you need to be secure in a remote role, recommended skills and education, and what roles can be done remotely (including entry level options).  

Tools Needed to Stay Secure 

Having the proper setup is important. From your monitor type and how many you have (you need at least a dual set-up), your computer’s capabilities, internet connection, and a decent headset. Once you have the proper equipment, there are a few things you need to do to keep yourself and the work you do secure. 

• Mobile Hotspot: If you plan on working while you travel this will come in handy, but if you plan on always working from home this may not be necessary 
• Security tools: At the minimum a VPN, other tools include a password manager, and online backup 
• Encryption tools: Software such as AxCrpt, NordLocker (same people who developed NordVPN), Kruptos 2 and many others. 
• Antivirus tool: Some great options include Avira, ClamAV, and Malwarebytes 
• Snort: Snort is a free open source network intrusion detection system and intrusion prevention system 
• Remote Desktop Software: Working in cybersecurity, you never know when you need to log into your computer remotely for monitoring and troubleshooting purposes. 

Recommended Skills 

Before I get into the recommended skills, I want to mention that for any role in cybersecurity or IT, continuous cybersecurity training is essential to stay relevant and be able to move up. A few necessary skills to have a successful career in cybersecurity may include: 

• Programming knowledge 
• Intrusion and threat detection 
• Proactive malware analysis 
• Risk and mitigations 
• Analysis of security 
• Knowledge and skills in cloud security 
• Awareness and continuous desire to stay up to date on all the new and latest technologies 

Depending on the career you may or may not need to know some of all of these skills. For remote roles, companies do expect you to be knowledgeable in many of these areas. You don’t necessarily need to have the experience in a career setting, but have some training whether through online cybersecurity courses or video tutorials.  

Remote-Friendly Cybersecurity Careers 

There are several career paths you can take in cybersecurity and IT. But if you are keen on being a remote worker, there are a few pathways that will be better than others. Here are some of the common remote entry-level cyber security jobs to get your career started: 

• IT Technician 
• Network Engineer 
• Web Developer 
• Network Administrator 
• Systems Administrator 

To get started in these roles an entry-level certification will be required such as the CompTIA A+ certification or Network+ certification. Learn more about what other job opportunities you have with A+ certification. 

If you already work in the cybersecurity field, have some IT experience, or are a planner some remote-friendly options could include: 

• Cybersecurity Analyst: In this role, you are the backbone of your company’s security. Your responsibilities include analysis and assessment of security incidents including troubleshooting network intrusion, management and maintenance of security tools, performing root cause analysis of moderate and complex security issues, and educating others. 
• Penetration Tester: Also known as an ethical hacker, you will spend your days hacking into your client’s organization to identify weaknesses, exploit them, and report back to your clients of their weaknesses. This role is also a great entry-level role for people with programming knowledge, potentially a BA, and some type of Pentest+ certification. 
• Security Architect: For this role you need 5 - 10 years of experience in security, usually starting as a system administrator and moving into an analyst or security engineer before becoming an architect. Your main responsibilities are to design, build, and implement the company’s networks and computer security. If you are a beginner, start with a Security+ certification.  
• Cybersecurity Technical Writer: If you have strong writing skills and want to move away from testing, monitoring, dealing with hardware and software, but still want to use your cybersecurity knowledge a technical writer might be something of interest. Technical writers are responsible for creating strategy plans, security policies, manuals, and other deliverables that translate and communicate the complex concept of cybersecurity into simple language for internal and external audiences.  

This is only a small handful of jobs that can be remotely in cybersecurity, almost anything from bug bounty work, vulnerability assessments, research, analysis of open source, creation and attendance of online training, review production of reports, risk analysis, compliance consulting can be done remotely. If you are good at what you do and you find the right company, your options are almost endless. Having an intermediate certification, such as a CySA+ certification, will show you have both the knowledge and experience to be valuable to any company. So, get out there and good luck in your remote cybersecurity career.  

Written by Lindsay McKay