What Was the Most Challenging Part About Andy Kantic’s Career Transition From Aviation Security to Cyber Security?
Andy Kantic was working in aviation security, and found himself really enjoying the thrill of catching threats, providing safety to those around him and the rapid growth of the cyber security industry itself. This led him to decide to upskill through our Cyber Security program, and not even one month after he graduated, he had successfully gotten a job as a Threat Analyst Manager at Cofense! Congratulations Andy. Read more about his exciting journey here:
You have a background in Aviation Security! What motivated you to pursue Cyber Security as a career?
Cyber Security slowly developed as a passion with my years working in security watching the technology around me quickly advancing and providing new ventures/procedures. Pursuing cyber security really stemmed from the love I had catching threats and providing safety to members of the public around me. I thought I could bring my skillset to the digital world where the possibilities were endless and threats waiting to be caught every second of the day. The rapid growth of the cyber security industry was also a key factor in my transition into the field.
What was the most challenging aspect of completing the course? Which aspect of the course did you enjoy the most?
The most challenging aspect would have to be familiarising myself with all the digital operating systems and getting used to working in a fully digital world (very different to my physical security job). A lot of the information was foreign to me and seemed almost impossible to understand, but with the help from the teams at IOD this quickly grew into something I felt comfortable with. The most enjoyable aspect would have to have been understanding how specific threat actors gain access to systems, the exact methods they use to compromise devices and what we can do as individuals to protect ourselves against them.
How did you manage to land a new role within less than a month of graduating from the program? How did the Job Outcome Program support you when you commenced the course?
The job outcomes team in IOD really helped revamp my resume to an industry standard, and made my socials project professionalism which was a key when applying for jobs. One piece of advice I could give to people trying to break through is to apply for all types of jobs and not be too picky. This was conveyed to me – and eventually what helped me land a better position than what I was even applying for.
Tell us about your current role, what does your day to day involve? What tools / techniques / processes do you use?
I manage a small cyber security team based out of Australia and work on email security for clients all over the globe. We help identify threats and patterns within email attacks and protect our clients from various types of social engineering and phishing/malware attacks. I regularly use some of the knowledge learnt from the course like understanding ports and communications between devices.
How does your new Cyber Security skillset assist you in this new role?
What I learnt at IOD was an extremely useful baseline to understand all different types of roles that are available within the cyber security field. My skillset obtained from the course helped greatly through interview processes and adapting/learning quickly when I landed my new position.
When you commenced the course initially, you did shift work whilst studying part time. How did you balance your study with the rest of your work and life commitments?
I’m not going to say it was something easy to do, but the course teachers and content really motivate you to make an effort and spend time on your course work as they do care. I managed to enrol into the 6 month part time cohort which gave me flexibility around work, and even if I missed a session once every while, the trainers recorded sessions and were happy to answer questions after hours to help me catch up.
How did you find the pre course work? What topics did it cover? How many hours did you have to spend on it approximately prior to the course commencement?
The pre course work was a bit intimidating at first glance, but when starting to work through it, it was a simple yet effective introduction into what was expected from us throughout the course. Learning about major cyber-attacks and how threat actors gained access into multi-million-dollar organisations was not only an enjoyable project, but further motivated my passion to learn about and enter the cyber security field.
Tell us about your capstone project! How did you come up with your topic? What did it teach you?
Coincidentally, where I work and the topic of my capstone project happen to be effectively the same thing. Writing up a capstone project around “How email monitoring can improve network security” seemed like a perfect starting point as we learnt that the majority of cyber attacks actually happen through email clients (either through social engineering attacks or credential harvesting websites). This gave me a topic where information was plentiful but was still a problem that most companies could drastically learn from.
How about the support that you received from the trainers in the program?
My trainer Raza was not only extremely knowledgeable with 15+ years experience within the IT field but was one of the main reasons the course was so enjoyable and insightful. He motivated our whole class to go above and beyond what was expected and was always offering to help us with any aspect of work. He made the course easy to understand and never over complicated topics making sure we all understood before moving onto new topics. Our assistant trainer was a previous student who helped guide as through the course and answer questions we had along the way.
What advice would you give a working professional that wants to kick-start their Cyber Security career if they don’t have an IT background?
If you are afraid about not understanding/being overwhelmed with the amount of knowledge you need to enter this sector, IOD will make sure you are walked through everything you don’t understand. As to transitioning into cyber, nothing is without risk but looking at the current market I don’t think there is a much better time to make the transition with the jobs available around the globe.
This course will provide you a true vision of what the cyber security world holds, and just how many different types of jobs are available to you. If you have the self-motivation and enthusiasm to learn and go out there and apply yourself there shouldn’t be a second thought if you are wanting to transition into cyber security.
To make your own career transition into cyber security – regardless of where you’re coming from – contact our course advisors today to get started.