Popular media often depicts cybersecurity professionals as elite hackers, working late into the night, furiously typing on keyboards to outsmart spies and thieves. However, the reality of cybersecurity careers is quite different from these myths. Cybersecurity experts are IT professionals who use a blend of technical and soft skills. The myths surrounding the field have led to considerable confusion about which skills are truly relevant.

The online Master of Science in Cyber Security from The Learnfly students with the skills needed for various cybersecurity careers. Graduates are well-prepared to address the high demand for cybersecurity experts and to specialize in areas such as incident response, security testing, and cybersecurity management. Cybersecurity professionals generally work with computer systems, databases, and networks, safeguarding them and the sensitive data they hold from external threats. While they share many technical skills with other IT and computer science roles, does this include computer programming?

Do you need programming skills for cybersecurity work?

The short answer is: It varies. Different cybersecurity jobs demand different skill sets. While some cybersecurity professionals regularly use programming skills, others may never write any code throughout their careers. This variation is due to the diverse nature of work within the field of cybersecurity.

Some professionals focus on monitoring network and computer activity to detect security breaches through intrusion detection. Others are responsible for designing secure networks, choosing the right hardware and software to build secure systems. Additionally, there are those who test existing networks to identify vulnerabilities, which they report to colleagues and supervisors for patching. This practice, often referred to as ethical hacking, is the closest real cybersecurity professionals come to their fictional counterparts. There are also roles in the field that involve less technical work, such as educating the public about security issues, ensuring compliance with best practices, managing cybersecurity projects, or overseeing cybersecurity teams.

The necessity of programming skills for a cybersecurity professional largely depends on their job role. Penetration testers, who conduct simulated attacks on computer systems, often use programming languages to automate these attacks, much like real hackers. In contrast, cybersecurity managers focus on overseeing security teams and shaping security policies within their organizations, and typically do not engage in programming. Other roles, such as security systems administrators, require specific technical skills but generally involve little to no coding.

Aspiring cybersecurity professionals should not be discouraged by the stereotypical image of the solitary white-hat hacker coding furiously. Although cybersecurity workers often possess advanced technical knowledge, only a small percentage have extensive computer programming skills.

Critical skills for cybersecurity careers

Rather than focusing on computer programming, aspiring cybersecurity professionals should concentrate on developing the following skills:

Cloud security

Individuals and large corporations frequently store sensitive information in the cloud. According to a report from data protection firm Arcserve, by 2025, an estimated 100 zettabytes—equivalent to 50% of the world’s data—will be stored in the cloud.

The cloud provides exceptional opportunities for accessing information, but it also introduces new vulnerabilities. As more data moves to the cloud, cloud security has become a critical skill for IT security experts. Cybersecurity professionals employ various technologies, policies, and security tools to safeguard the cloud and its data. Those aiming to work in this field should become familiar with cloud technologies like Amazon Web Services, Google Cloud Platform, and Microsoft Azure—three of the largest cloud platforms globally.

According to a report from the International Information System Security Certification Consortium (ISC2), 40% of surveyed cybersecurity professionals believe that cloud computing security skills are essential.

Risk assessment

While popular media often portrays cybersecurity professionals as springing into action upon detecting intruders, real-world experts focus on identifying and mitigating cyber threats before they arise. Most cybersecurity professionals analyze historical trends and stay updated on the latest malware and cyber attacks to assess the threat landscape and predict future risks.

Security analysis

Security analysis complements risk assessment by focusing on internal vulnerabilities rather than external threats. While risk assessment examines potential security threats from the outside, security analysis inspects an organization’s information systems for weaknesses. Security analysts detect potential security breaches, such as firewall gaps or human errors, and address these vulnerabilities before they can be exploited by hackers.

Approximately 28% of cybersecurity professionals in the ISC2 report also highlighted security analysis as a critical skill, ranking it as equally important as risk assessment.

Governance, risk management and compliance

Cybersecurity professionals serve as the main defense against cyber attacks for an organization, but information security responsibility encompasses the entire corporate governance framework. Governance, Risk Management, and Compliance (GRC) involves policies and practices designed to manage risks. This skill set includes a range of abilities, from developing comprehensive security guidelines to ensuring their implementation across the organization. Some aspects are derived from cybersecurity management best practices, while others are dictated by strict legal requirements.

In the ISC2 report, 26% of cybersecurity professionals considered governance, risk management, and compliance skills to be essential.

Should you learn programming for cybersecurity?

Unlike cloud computing security and risk management, programming is not a core cybersecurity skill. Rather, it serves as a tool that can enhance specific career paths in cybersecurity or improve existing skills. Think of programming as akin to a nail gun: while you don’t need a nail gun to build a house, and having one won’t make you a homebuilding expert overnight, it can accelerate and enhance certain aspects of the process if you already possess homebuilding skills.

While aspiring cybersecurity professionals don’t need programming skills to enter the field, having them can make candidates more competitive for top positions. Fortunately, there are many resources available for self-teaching computer programming. Those with a solid grasp of cybersecurity concepts and backgrounds in IT or computer science can swiftly learn to apply programming to these concepts on their own.

Cybersecurity professionals interested in learning programming should focus on the C family of languages, which form the foundation of many operating systems and software. Key languages to consider include Java, prevalent in various software and web applications; Python, a scripting language useful for automating security tasks and analyzing data; and SQL, which can help defend against attacks or conduct simulated attacks in penetration testing.

Programming skills are not required to become a cybersecurity professional, but learning these programming languages can open the door to higher-level cybersecurity roles, such as cybersecurity software engineer, incident responder or penetration tester.