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Degree vs. certification: Late-career cybercrime analyst/investigator

Introduction

Cybersecurity is a great career choice for those who have passion for information security and helping others with it. The role of cybercrime analyst/investigator takes this passion for information security a bit further and hybridizes it with cybercrime investigation techniques, concepts and practices and makes the professional a formidable force against malicious attackers. 

This role requires either a degree or certification to be hired, but one path may be better for your than the other. This article will detail both the degree and certification paths to becoming a cybercrime analyst/investigator in the late career and will conclude with my recommendation about which path to take.

Cybercrime analyst/investigator

Have you ever wanted to combine information security skills with crime-fighting skills to help organizations deal with the ever-growing menace of cyberthreats? 

This sort of hybrid dream job is no dream, and it is not a grimy gumshoe gig either. Rather, this cybersecurity specialization draws on these skill sets to tackle some of the most daunting cybercrime challenges, often where conventional cybersecurity skills fail to prevail. Organizations and their security teams never lose a minute of sleep when this happens because they know their cybercrime analyst/investigator is up to the task. 

This role is often referred to by many different names, including:

  • Cybercrime analyst
  • Cybercrime investigator
  • Computer crime analyst/investigator
  • Computer forensics analyst
  • Cyber forensics analyst

The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics has predicted this role to grow by 28% between the years of 2016 and 2026. With a statistic like this, you can rest assured that there will be jobs in this role around for years to come.

Degree path

The first path to the late career of this role is that of the degree. There is no hard-and-fast rule for what degree is required, but the real-world (Read more...)

*** This is a Security Bloggers Network syndicated blog from Infosec Resources authored by Greg Belding. Read the original post at: http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/infosecResources/~3/xHmB3K-Ybm4/