Where can you work with a cybersecurity degree?
From a data breach in 2015 involving a U.S. health insurer Anthem, that affected tens of millions of people, to an incident at Equifax in 2017, where hackers took sensitive information from over 140 million people, it’s evident that a professional with a B.S. in cybersecurity is needed in every industry.
Sometimes the goal of the cybercriminal is to obtain credit card information or social security numbers, other times they want to disrupt services. Either way, it’s the job of cybersecurity professionals to prevent an attack, minimize risks if an attack does happen, and improve procedures to prevent security breaches from occurring in the future.
To help you realize the endless career paths open to an individual with a degree in cybersecurity, we’ve compiled a list of the top industries that need professionals to protect their information from hackers.
Healthcare
The Anthem breach mentioned above has been called one of the most drastic breaches in healthcare. The data that was stolen includes individuals contact information, names, social security numbers, emails, home addresses and income.
According to HIPAA Journal, “healthcare hacking incidents have increased steadily since 2016.”
In 2017, there were 178 healthcare data breaches, which increased to 222 in 2018.
Tourism
Going on vacation usually means handing a credit card to an employee at a hotel. Unfortunately for consumers, data breaches in the hospitality industry continue to rise. It doesn’t matter if you stay at a small, boutique inn or a large multinational hotel chain; over a dozen data breaches have been reported by hotels since 2010.
Public Sector
Hacking into government databases isn’t new. One report states that 57% of federal agencies have been breached in the past year and that 70% have been breached at some point in the past. The good news is that 93% of Federal Government organizations have increased their IT security spending. Increasing the security budgets will hopefully protect sensitive information.
Retail
Back in 2013, one of the biggest data breaches of the 21st century happened when the credit/debit card information from up to 110 million Target customers was compromised. Since that time, Target and other retailers have been making improvements to their security to prevent attacks and respond quickly to contain damage when they do occur. Nevertheless, data breaches in the U.S. retail market increased from 19% in 2016 to 50% in 2017.
Financial
According to Forbes.com, “Financial services firms fall victim to cybersecurity attacks 300 times more frequently than businesses in other industries.” This article goes on to explain that theft of sensitive data damages is one of the top three factors that hurt a financial institution’s reputation. The good news is that cybersecurity executives in the financial sector are working hard to deter cybercriminals.
The William Woods University Online BS in Cybersecurity program is designed to prepare students to enter the workforce. These graduates typically pursue careers as information security analysts particularly in the banking and financial industry, healthcare industry, governmental organizations and within the military.