Cyber ​​warfare and cyber defense have become one of the core elements of hybrid warfare. Our experts and volunteer hackers not only successfully resist attacks, but also respond. Last year, more than 1.25 million DDoS attacks against Russian infrastructure were recorded (8.4% of all cyberattacks in the world). According to Natalia Tkachuk, head of the information security and cybersecurity service of the NSDC Apparatus, Ukraine is the only state that can gain an advantage in resisting cyber attacks and information aggression of the Russian Federation.

But we must be aware: We are not talking about final victory at the moment. The enemy evolves, maneuvers, changes hit points. The current trend is smart attacks to identify weak spots in infrastructure. And world experience proves that reliable operation of cyber defense systems will remain important even in peacetime.

goverment policy

In our country, the formulation and implementation of state policy in the field of cyber protection, protection of critical infrastructure objects and state information resources in cyberspace is supervised by the State Special Communications and Information Protection Service of Ukraine. It is also responsible for training specialists in these fields, which require special flexibility for new staff to respond to today’s changing needs. There are only two ways to do this.

The first is the implementation of changes in the higher education system. Currently, only one option is available for applicants interested in information protection-related work – specialization in the field of knowledge 12 “Information technology” 125 “Cybersecurity”. However, its standards do not provide future professionals with all the knowledge and skills needed in the modern labor market. The solution is to expand the list of educational opportunities in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and Science. However, cooperation with another state structure complicates the process and takes time, and changes are now needed.

The second path is to apply international standards and global best practices and develop a framework of competence for professions in cybersecurity. In simple words, to expand the list of possible positions for cyber specialists in the Ukrainian Classifier of Occupations and create a suitable professional evaluation system for them. It is in this direction that the State Special Communications Service has been working intensively in recent years. As a result, the number of jobs in cybersecurity and information protection increased from 2 to 27. Another initiative is the establishment of competency centers where experts in cyber security and related specialties can take professional exams. This will give them the opportunity to enter the labor market as narrowly specialized specialists and find exactly the staff that employers need. Competence centers will be able to provide training services as well as organizing specialty examinations. For this reason, the State Private Communications Service supports the attempts of educational institutions and private companies to establish certification centers on their own basis and to obtain accreditation according to the current legislation.

“It is clear that State Private Communications cannot develop the labor market alone. As a state body and regulator – or rather, a mediator – we can identify an approximate direction of action for further development in the field of cyber protection and information protection. Oleksandr Potii, Deputy Head of State Private Communications “However, it is absolutely impossible to create a professional certification system and labor market without the support of higher education institutions, employers, and private companies providing education services,” he says.

Employment and career

This year, the beta version of the matching platform – CyberPeople – for recruiting professionals in the field of cybersecurity was launched in Ukraine. It works on the principle of matching the skills of experts with the wishes of potential employers and focuses primarily on the interests of candidates. Unlike recruitment platforms like LinkedIn, where all previous jobs, employment history and photos of the profile holder are instantly visible, CyberPeople protects cyber professionals from the judgment and unethical behavior of recruiters.

“I want to make the platform on the side of professionals. There the profiles will be closed and the assessment will be based on skills only (skills acquired by the applicant for the open position, – ed.). Companies say that there are no longer enough skilled workers on the market. I strongly disagree with this. CyberPeople’s co-founder said that based on the results of such an election, companies will be able to ask the candidate to open their profile, and the expert will be independent regardless of whether the offer is suitable for him and whether he wants to be interviewed. He will decide.” Olga Nasibullina.

The next step in the development of the project will be cooperation with training platforms, which will allow experts to validate their skills and obtain certificates at the appropriate level. In addition, the platform will be able to offer cyber specialists the creation of an individual career path, for example, from junior (beginner) to intermediate (experienced specialist).

In general, when talking about career opportunities and employment in cybersecurity, it’s worth noting that employers’ approach to recruiting has changed quite a bit over the past few years. As the requirements for candidates’ practical skills became more stringent, their personal qualities began to play an important role in the selection of the best candidates.

In a recent expert discussion on “Cybersecurity jobs and careers,” Yevgen Balyutov, head of Raiffeisen Bank’s IT security department, expressed his vision for the situation: “Just a year ago, I used to say: ‘if your eyes are burning, you want to do something. and if you have a basic technical background – ok, let’s play this game. Get six months and a personal development plan, if you have ambitions – let’s go!”. I will say differently now. When the team is already balanced, one has to be very wary of new people bringing in a new culture, new values ​​and some new knowledge. For this reason, not only the technical background but also the ability of the candidate to share the values ​​of the team formed over the years is important to me. For example, if the entire team isn’t against a flexible schedule and the need to work nights as the deadline approaches, and that’s bad for one person, then it’s usually not so good for the entire organization. That’s why we try to balance the work of all team members.”

In addition, the priorities of the companies in the training of experts have also changed. There was a need for narrow-profile specialists with expert knowledge and skills in their field. “For example, in our company English and above-average expert level is a mandatory requirement. We are currently looking for specialists with very deep point knowledge. So, station wagons are not that interesting anymore, because we need people who can strengthen the team because of their unique knowledge”, – EPAM company Myroslava Stremenetska ‘s Security Service Presentation Manager said.

Although the cybersecurity field is highly technical and requires a certain set of practical skills, communication skills are invaluable here as in many other industries. Representatives already experienced in the field of cyber protection emphasize this separately, since this criterion does not seem very clear when choosing specialists.

“The most enjoyable thing is to look for the right people in the community (professional community), because these are the people we know and see how they communicate. Technical skills (hard skills) can be tightened, also easier to control. Social and communicative skills (social skills) are very tested. it is more difficult, and sometimes it is impossible to develop them. Therefore, when we meet a person in the community and observe his interaction with others, we can already understand how such a specialist will communicate with customers, customers, for example, explain to programmers how to perform tasks, or whether he can communicate with management. “It’s important that he knows how to deliver his product or business. After all, security is invisible. It needs to be presented so that companies are aware of security vulnerabilities and strive to work on it,” said Yuliya Mezher, Security Software Engineer at Cossack Labs.

Education opportunities

With the onset of an extensive invasion, it became clear that cybersecurity is one of the priority and critical aspects of the country’s development. Of course, there have been various educational initiatives to train future experts in this field. However, the past year was marked by the emergence of new educational projects and opportunities, not only for young people, but also for those who dare to undertake a full professional reorientation.

So, in March Ukraine Ministry of Digital Transformation launched a re/start in cyber education project. The program consists of two stages. The first is to take an online course at Toronto Metropolitan University that involves gaining theoretical knowledge and practical skills on the fundamentals of cybersecurity. The second is preparation for future employment with the participation of the recruiting company BazaIT; Meanwhile, participants will learn the rules of writing a CV (professional CV) and interviewing employers. There are certain requirements for participation in the program:

Ukrainian citizenship;

at least one and a half years of work experience in any field other than cybersecurity;

Have a command of English at a level not lower than B2.

Successful completion of the course will result in the internationally recognized GIAC Core Cyber ​​Security Technologies (GFACT) certification.

Many Ukrainian applicants also see their professional future in the field of cybersecurity, therefore choosing the appropriate specialization for admission to higher education institutions. As Trokhym Babich, coordinator of the “Cyberbezpeka” educational direction at the Faculty of Informatics of the National University “Kiev-Mohyla Academy” noted, nothing special is required to work in this field, except stable knowledge of mathematics and English. as well as a specific framework of thinking that will help the student understand the specifics of working with particular technologies. “If programming itself is the ability to build a house, then for me cybersecurity is a specific review that allows you to find extra doors and windows inside the house,” Babich said.

In general, the level of interest in cybersecurity in Ukrainian society is growing. And taking into account the rapid growth rate of the industry, it is necessary to understand that today the issue of information protection concerns absolutely everyone. Yehor Aushev, co-founder of CyberSchool, emphasized this: “Everyone now needs to have a basic knowledge of cyber hygiene. We try to explain to companies that employees should devote at least a few minutes a week to cybersecurity. This way, a human firewall emerges, i.e. a computer inside the organization. Walls are built to protect against 80% of hacker attacks. There are different levels of education in cyber security, from school children and students to corporate teams. As CyberSchool, we are ready to cooperate with universities, we want to share our experiences and implement many projects. After all, this human firewall in our state is also built. The more conscious the society is about cyber security, the stronger our country will be.”

Currently, Ukraine is at the forefront of cyber warfare. And although these conditions negatively affect our lives, they can be used to test new ideas and technologies in the field of information protection. The experience we have gained in the fight against the enemy makes our cyber experts the industry leader in the global market. In addition, the demand for Ukrainian educational projects is beginning to form among specialists abroad. From this we can conclude that the cyber defense industry in our country will continue to grow actively and attract new talents, and the time will come when we can fully share the acquired knowledge with the world.

Anastasia Kyrychenko, Kyiv

Photo from open sources