Use your downtime to upskill

Our article this week is going to touch on the lighter side of the current situation. Now that we are all adjusting to working remotely, it is worth taking a moment to upskill and consider the opportunities that you’re faced with.

Whether it’s the elimination of your commuting time, more availability in the evenings, or even a more convenient lunch break, it is an excellent opportunity to focus on your ambitions, personal development and to upskill your skillset. Take time to refine these. Upskill in new areas that you’ve never taken up before. Like with a lot of our articles, we’ll be taking a security approach.

The security industry is difficult to keep up with, and rightly so, it is a race to stay updated with the latest information and use this to defend against threats. Fortunately, this is a good chance to do some valuable research and development. Let’s take penetration testing – this takes significant investment to develop and upskill the mindset and technique.

That’s why we’ve put together a small action list that you can adapt based on what you’re training in. Using a security consultant role as an example:

* Look at the most recent security breaches, break them down if possible, and figure out the main point of failure. Learn from this.

* Look at security frameworks, guidelines, best practices. Think OWASP Top 10, SANS Top 25 or MITRE ATT&CK.

* Find a platform to reinforce your learning. For penetration testing, you might choose HackTheBox, OverTheWire, Immersive Labs, or another variant to encourage practical learning.

Find ways to continue your learning to upskill. Challenge ideas and use this time to work toward something that you have always wanted to do but haven’t had the time for. You’ll be surprised by how fast the time flies when you have clear goals to motivate yourself during this challenging time.