Cybersecurity Certification On Coursera
Written by Sue Gee   
Friday, 20 October 2023

October is Cybersecurity Awareness Month. What better time to gain cybersecurity skills that are in demand with approximately 3.5 million cybersecurity job openings expected by 2025.  

 cybersec sq oct

Cybersecurity is a broad field with many areas of specialization, including Information Security Analyst, which was ranked one of the best jobs of 2023. In fact it came in 5th and Software Developers was in 1st place as we reported in January, see Best USA Job For 2023 - Software Developer.,

Even if you don't want to switch careers or move away from your current role a CyberSecurity credential could give you another skill to add to your resume and increase your pay bargaining power. 

So whether you are a total beginner or already a cyber pro, you can start, switch, or advance your career with one of 20 cybersecurity curriculums offered on the Coursera platform.

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We have already explored the following three Cybersecurity Professional Certificates, all of which are  self-paced and at beginner level:

Some of Coursera's university partners have designed curricula for different audiences of learners and like the professional certificates from Google and Microsoft are included in Coursera Plus -  

For an overview suitable for mangers and policy makers, the University of Maryland has a short course comprising six modules that has a time requirement of around 21 hours. Its blurb explains that it will help individuals or organizations better understand how to address their cybersecurity:

Cybersecurity for Everyone lays the groundwork to understand and explore the key issues facing policy makers attempting to manage the problem of cybersecurity, from its technical foundations to the domestic and international policy considerations surrounding governance, privacy, and risk management, to applications for achieving the goals of an enterprise, an institution, or a nation. 

Also from the University of Maryland there's a more technical and more practical curriculum. At Intermediate level, the 5-course Cybersecurity Specialization estimated to require 2 months at 10 hours per week and:

covers the fundamental concepts underlying the construction of secure systems, from the hardware to the software to the human-computer interface, with the use of cryptography to secure interactions. These concepts are illustrated with examples drawn from modern practice, and augmented with hands-on exercises involving relevant tools and techniques. Successful participants will develop a way of thinking that is security-oriented, better understanding how to think about adversaries and how to build systems that defend against them. 

This course has a Capstone in which students build a software system they intend to be secure, and then attempt to show that other students' projects are insecure, by finding flaws in them.

For a Beginner level alternative which doesn't have a Capstone project, New York University offers Introduction to Cyber Security Specialization,  a 4-course series that is also estimated to require 2 months at 10 hours per week. According to its blurb:

The learning outcome is simple: We hope learners will develop a lifelong passion and appreciation for cyber security, which we are certain will help in future endeavors. Students, developers, managers, engineers, and even private citizens will benefit from this learning experience. Special customized interviews with industry partners were included to help connect the cyber security concepts to live business experiences.

Also at beginner level Cybersecurity Attack and Defense Fundamentals Specialization comes from  EC-Council. It has the rather different focus of:

Learn Ethical Hacking, Network Defense & Forensics. Master foundational skills to pursue a cybersecurity career and help build and maintain a secure infrastructure.

It is estimated to take 5 months at 5 hours per week and has three courses, one on each of topics in its title.

Coursera also has beginner-level Specializations from CISCO and IBM that are intended to provide the foundational knowledge to get you a first job such as an entry-level cybersecurity operations analyst in a Security Operations Center (SOC):

There are also two Specializations from IBSC2 that are designed to prepare you for certification to advance a career in IT with cybersecurity skills:

 cybersec sq oct

 

More Information

Explore Coursera's Cybersecurity Courses

Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate

Microsoft Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate

IBM Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate

Cybersecurity for Everyone

Cybersecurity Specialization

Introduction to Cyber Security Specalization 

Cybersecurity Attack and Defense Fundamentals Specialization

Related Articles

Cybersecurity - Google Tackles Skills Gap

Microsoft Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate

Coursera Plus For A Year's Worth Of Study

 

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Last Updated ( Friday, 20 October 2023 )