What skills do you need for cyber security?

Junior skills - understand what you protect

Know how networks work: ports, TCP and UDP, DNS, TLS and HTTP. Use the Linux shell to read logs, check users and permissions, and find running services. Write small Python or Bash scripts. Learn the OWASP Top 10: SQL injection, XSS, broken access control, weak password storage. Use tools like nmap, Burp Suite or curl, and Wireshark.

Mid-level skills - find and close real holes

Review code for security bugs and use scanners such as Semgrep, Bandit, Trivy and gitleaks, then decide which findings are real. Secure cloud accounts: IAM least privilege, private S3 buckets, encryption with KMS. Set secure cookie flags, rate limit logins and handle secrets with a secrets manager. For SOC roles, work with a SIEM and write detection rules.

Senior skills - design and response

Threat model a system before it is built. Design secret rotation, network segmentation and access policies across many services. Lead incident response and write clear reports. Explain risk to people who are not engineers and help teams choose what to secure first.

How to show these skills to an employer

Certifications show you studied. Projects show you can do the work. Pick a few common problems - an injectable query, a password stored in plain text, an API key committed to Git - and secure each one in a working system. Write up the problem, the change and how you tested it, and put them on one portfolio page.

Real Security work to put in your portfolio

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