The cybersecurity field attracts a diverse range of individuals, all united by their passion to protect digital assets from, well, bad guys and gals. While there is no single personality trait that defines a successful individual in the cybersecurity field, there are certain traits among those who thrive in this fast-paced industry.

Natural Problem Solvers and Critical Thinkers

One of the most common traits that successful cybersecurity professionals all seem to have, is the natural (or maybe un-natural?) ability to solve problems. Most people get their first taste of cybersecurity by trying to solve problems….sometimes those problems are not being authorized access to data that the individual wants access to, and other times those problems coming up with ways to prevent access to data. Cybersecurity professionals also typically have an innate curiosity about how systems work. To us, its not just “one system sending packets to another”, its “what’s in those packets?”, “what do the headers look like?”, “is the data actually encrypted?”.

Continuous Learners

The way technology evolves today means that all professionals that interact with technology need to keep up-to-date on their skill set but, no profession requires more continuous education then cybersecurity. Successful cybersecurity professionals are typically self-motivated learners who:

• Stay up-to-date with the latest security trends and emerging threats
• Regularly update their technical skills through certifications
• Adapt quickly to new tools and technologies
• Actively participate in conferences, and other professional development opportunities

Ethical Individuals

One of the most important traits cybersecurity professionals, at least those who stay employed long term, have is their strong ethics. As cybersecurity professionals, we typically have access to…more data then most people. Whether that is vulnerability data, insider information, or various other forms of data that a company could have. It’s up to us to stay on the correct side of ethics, and ensure we protect the data we’re tasked to protect.

Resilient Under Pressure

There is one thing for certain in cybersecurity, there is a lot of pressure. Pressure to make sure you’re doing everything correctly. Pressure to get stakeholder and budget writers on-board. Pressure to ensure the bad guys don’t win. When it comes to the amount of pressure situations you’re in from one day to the next, there isn’t another career field like it.

Organized By Chaos

Cybersecurity professionals aren’t always the most organized people around. To be frank, most of the successful ones might be considered and unorganized mess. But one thing is for sure, when chaos strikes, we always seem to be the most organized of the bunch. Do I know what I did yesterday? Absolutely not. Do I remember who set up that one obscure system 3.76 years ago? Yeah, that was Bill…it’s always Bill…

Strong Communicators…Well, When it Comes to Tech People…

This is one trait that you learn pretty quickly when you get into the field. It is very easy to talk over people heads, or at least in terms that aren’t common knowledge to most people, that’s just the nature of the field. Sometimes, it’s easier to say “no data was compromised”, instead of “well, no data was compromise according to the logs, but we can’t necessary rule out that the threat actor didn’t utilize CCTV to off load data though converting it to binary and blinking the hard drive light on the front of the computer based on that binary data”. Yeah, it gets that way sometimes.

Creative Individuals

This is one thing that I don’t think cybersecurity professionals get enough credit for, we’re pretty creative. Oh, you don’t want to increase the budget to purchase a unified tool for vulnerability data? I guess I’ll just create my own. We don’t have access to a SQL Server? I guess I can turn Sharepoint Lists into a database. We have an innate ability to come up with some pretty creative solutions to any roadblock we might have.

Conclusion

At the end of the day, cybersecurity is a field that attracts a whole cast of characters. One day, you can be having a conversation with someone who got into cybersecurity by hacking their tractor and the next day talk to someone who got into it because they didn’t like accounting. But, regardless of our background, we do what we do because we feel a sense of commitment to protecting digital assets, and other things.

Whether you’re a recent grad, career changer, or experienced IT professional, cybersecurity offers opportunities for those willing to develop these character traits and commit to professional growth, The field continues to evolve, seemly overnight, and demands professionals who can adapt to this evolution, and rise to new challenges while maintaining the highest standards of security.