Cybersecurity jobs in demand

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WISCONSIN (CBS 58) -- The jobs of the future are here now.

Julian Singham graduates from Milwaukee School of Engineering in May, and likely has a job waiting for him. “I’ve got a good lead at Rockwell Automation,” Singham said.

In the meantime, Singham is team captain of his Cybersecurity College Competition Team. He specializes in “red team” play, meaning he defends against attackers.

“We have about 10 different servers and our job with a seven-man team is to go in, go through all the systems, patch them, update them. If there’s any malware try to remediate that,” he said. 

Singham says computer experts and hackers have a reputation, you’ve likely seen it in movies, but don’t fall for a simple stereotype.

“People imagine the stereotypical Hollywood hacker...the person has to be a complete genius in order to break through these systems, but it’s not really that difficult, anyone can pretty much pick up cybersecurity,” he said. 

If you can pick up cybersecurity, there are plenty of good-paying jobs available. According to the latest U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data, information security analysts earn a median yearly salary of $107,000. 

Electrical Engineering and Computer Science Professor Walter Schilling says these cybersecurity jobs are available almost anywhere in the country.

"There are several hundred-thousand unfilled positions nationwide in the cyber security area, either now or in the next five years,” Schilling said.

Tina Chang, CEO of Syslogic, wants to keep cybersecurity talent in this area.

“Milwaukee is ripe to become a particular type of tech hub,” she said.

Chang says she envisions Southeast Wisconsin’s manufacturing base building hacker-protected products with the help of a new crop of cybersecurity talent. A perfect marriage, and an economic boom.

“We have so many connected supply chains from a traditional manufacturing history,” she said.    

MSOE offers a four-year degree, but Chang says a traditional college degree is not necessarily needed to break into this field, she says a knowledge of computers and an attention to detail are the most important qualities. Cybersecurity jobs are expected to be in demand long-term.

“Beware, this is going to be the next warfare,” Chang said.  

Singham says after he graduates, he plans to stay in the Milwaukee area, and expects his passion to turn into a profitable career.

“We are a very open community, everyone’s willing to help you learn through the process, and if you have a want for it, the world is your oyster,” he said. 

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