The world is shifting increasingly into an online world with every technological advancement. In this world, only one thing stands between your digital information and malicious actors – the presence of a cybersecurity team.
Cybersecurity professionals are in sky-high demand, and this trend isn’t slowing down. If you’re curious about joining their ranks and want to know how to learn cybersecurity, you’ve landed in the right spot. This roadmap will not only explain what cybersecurity is but how to get started in this exciting field.
Understanding the Cybersecurity Landscape
Cybersecurity might sound like a single, giant puzzle, but it’s more like a collection of smaller puzzles. It keeps the online space safe from threats and hackers, and the field spans various domains.
For example, network security keeps connections safe from attacks that lurk before you even access any website. On the other hand, application security fortifies the apps, while information security guards the data you share and store.
Another cybersecurity domain, ethical hacking, involves breaking into systems (legally, of course!) to find vulnerabilities before the bad actors do.
Learning about cybersecurity starts with getting familiar with the basics, such as concepts and key terms. Then, you have to keep up with the tech and threats, which means dipping into the latest trends in the cyber world.
Getting Started: Cybersecurity for Beginners
If you’re ready to address the question, “How to learn cybersecurity for beginners,” you’ll be glad to know that getting started isn’t complicated. The following steps will get you started in the right direction:
- Step 1: Basic Knowledge. Many resources are easily discoverable online for free. Look for tutorials, blogs, and free courses that introduce the core concepts of cybersecurity.
- Step 2: Formal Education. Once you’re comfortable with your basic know-how, it’s time to dive into structured learning. Paid, full-curriculum online courses and certifications for beginners are more comprehensive. Organizations like CompTIA and (ISC)² offer foundational certifications like Security+ and SSCP.
- Step 3: Practical Experience. Learning theory is a great way to build a solid foundation, but cybersecurity is a hands-on field. You’ll need practical experience, so take part in labs, simulations, and project-based learning like Hack The Box or CyberSecLabs to apply what you’ve learned in the real world.
OPIT’s Role in Cybersecurity Education
OPIT’s cybersecurity program give you a strong base in cybersecurity principles blended with the real-world side of the field with practical, hands-on applications. You will team up with experts who know the ins and outs of cyber threats, the latest tech defenses, and strategies that work.
There’s even more.
OPIT’s lectures and exams are nothing like the typical classroom-style courses you might’ve found at other educational institutions. In the program, you’ll have access to virtual labs and have you work on live projects. You’re being given the keys to a safe cyber playground where you can test skills, make mistakes, learn, and grow without the risk of letting the real intruder in.
Building Essential Cybersecurity Skills
Here are some of the core skills every beginner needs to develop to enter the complex and ever-evolving sphere of digital security.
- Encryption is how information stays safe from prying eyes online. As a beginner, learning encryption means learning how to use these secret codes to protect data and keep it readable only by the intended recipient.
- Network protocols are the web’s traffic rules. Getting to grips with these protocols will help you understand how data travels across the web and how to keep it secure as it does. You learn the pathways and the signposts – HTTP, HTTPS, FTP.
- Cybersecurity picks apart your mindset as much as it does the tools and technical skills. Sharpening analytical thinking is akin to becoming a digital detective. You’ll learn to look beyond the obvious and piece together clues to uncover potential threats before they strike.
- Every day in cybersecurity brings a new problem to solve, like finding a vulnerability in a network or responding to a cyber-attack. Your problem-solving ability to think on your feet and devise solutions will be your greatest asset.
However, while all these skills are invaluable and necessary, there’s one aspect that, if you’re lacking, might set you back from becoming top of the field. The cybersecurity field is as much about connections as it is about computers. By participating in webinars, attending conferences, and joining forums, you keep your knowledge up to date and build a network of peers and mentors. These interactions can inspire new ideas, offer support in tackling challenges, and open doors to opportunities in cybersecurity.
Why Choose a Career in Cybersecurity
Beyond asking how to learn about cybersecurity, you might also wonder why you should. It’s a career path full of excitement, challenges, and the immense satisfaction of making an impact on the world. Here’s why this field is worth considering:
In High Demand
Everything is going digital at an unprecedented rate. And with it, the need for skilled cybersecurity warriors. There’s a constant call for talent capable of safeguarding data and infrastructure against never-ending threats. Stepping into cybersecurity means you’re stepping into a realm where your skills are a shield for everyone’s very existence and functioning online.
Diverse Roles
Cybersecurity isn’t a one-size-fits-all career. It’s a mosaic of roles that cater to different interests and skills. For example, you might be intrigued by ethical hacking, fascinated by digital forensics, or drawn to creating secure networks. There’s always a niche for you. This diversity means you can find a path that plays to your strengths, keeps you engaged, and pushes you to learn more.
Making a Difference
Cybersecurity specialists are protectors. They shield not just bytes and data but people and their way of life. You have the power to prevent fraud, thwart cyberattacks, recover people’s precious data, and protect the privacy of individuals and the secrets of corporations. The impact is real, tangible, and incredibly rewarding.
Be the Cyber Warrior You’re Meant to Be
Cybersecurity starts with getting familiar with the basics and exploring accessible online treasures. You have to layer up knowledge with more structured learning as you dive into courses that challenge you more each time. Then, you get your hands dirty with actual work, where you learn the ropes by doing. The softer, more analytical skills will also be helpful, whether you’re taking time to figure out a complex problem or have to pivot for an immediate threat. And don’t forget to mingle in the cyber crowd—webinars, forums, the works.
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From the same author
Read the articleFrom personalization to productivity: AI at the heart of the educational experience.
Click this link to read and download the e-book.
At its core, teaching is a simple endeavour. The experienced and learned pass on their knowledge and wisdom to new generations. Nothing has changed in that regard. What has changed is how new technologies emerge to facilitate that passing on of knowledge. The printing press, computers, the internet – all have transformed how educators teach and how students learn.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next game-changer in the educational space.
Specifically, AI agents have emerged as tools that utilize all of AI’s core strengths, such as data gathering and analysis, pattern identification, and information condensing. Those strengths have been refined, first into simple chatbots capable of providing answers, and now into agents capable of adapting how they learn and adjusting to the environment in which they’re placed. This adaptability, in particular, makes AI agents vital in the educational realm.
The reasons why are simple. AI agents can collect, analyse, and condense massive amounts of educational material across multiple subject areas. More importantly, they can deliver that information to students while observing how the students engage with the material presented. Those observations open the door for tweaks. An AI agent learns alongside their student. Only, the agent’s learning focuses on how it can adapt its delivery to account for a student’s strengths, weaknesses, interests, and existing knowledge.
Think of an AI agent like having a tutor – one who eschews set lesson plans in favour of an adaptive approach designed and tweaked constantly for each specific student.
In this eBook, the Open Institute of Technology (OPIT) will take you on a journey through the world of AI agents as they pertain to education. You will learn what these agents are, how they work, and what they’re capable of achieving in the educational sector. We also explore best practices and key approaches, focusing on how educators can use AI agents to the benefit of their students. Finally, we will discuss other AI tools that both complement and enhance an AI agent’s capabilities, ensuring you deliver the best possible educational experience to your students.
Read the articleThe Open Institute of Technology (OPIT) began enrolling students in 2023 to help bridge the skills gap between traditional university education and the requirements of the modern workplace. OPIT’s MSc courses aim to help professionals make a greater impact on their workplace through technology.
OPIT’s courses have become popular with business leaders hoping to develop a strong technical foundation to understand technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity, that are shaping their industry. But OPIT is also attracting professionals with strong technical expertise looking to engage more deeply with the strategic side of digital innovation. This is the story of one such student, Obiora Awogu.
Meet Obiora
Obiora Awogu is a cybersecurity expert from Nigeria with a wealth of credentials and experience from working in the industry for a decade. Working in a lead data security role, he was considering “what’s next” for his career. He was contemplating earning an MSc to add to his list of qualifications he did not yet have, but which could open important doors. He discussed the idea with his mentor, who recommended OPIT, where he himself was already enrolled in an MSc program.
Obiora started looking at the program as a box-checking exercise, but quickly realized that it had so much more to offer. As well as being a fully EU-accredited course that could provide new opportunities with companies around the world, he recognized that the course was designed for people like him, who were ready to go from building to leading.
OPIT’s MSc in Cybersecurity
OPIT’s MSc in Cybersecurity launched in 2024 as a fully online and flexible program ideal for busy professionals like Obiora who want to study without taking a career break.
The course integrates technical and leadership expertise, equipping students to not only implement cybersecurity solutions but also lead cybersecurity initiatives. The curriculum combines technical training with real-world applications, emphasizing hands-on experience and soft skills development alongside hard technical know-how.
The course is led by Tom Vazdar, the Area Chair for Cybersecurity at OPIT, as well as the Chief Security Officer at Erste Bank Croatia and an Advisory Board Member for EC3 European Cybercrime Center. He is representative of the type of faculty OPIT recruits, who are both great teachers and active industry professionals dealing with current challenges daily.
Experts such as Matthew Jelavic, the CEO at CIM Chartered Manager Canada and President of Strategy One Consulting; Mahynour Ahmed, Senior Cloud Security Engineer at Grant Thornton LLP; and Sylvester Kaczmarek, former Chief Scientific Officer at We Space Technologies, join him.
Course content includes:
- Cybersecurity fundamentals and governance
- Network security and intrusion detection
- Legal aspects and compliance
- Cryptography and secure communications
- Data analytics and risk management
- Generative AI cybersecurity
- Business resilience and response strategies
- Behavioral cybersecurity
- Cloud and IoT security
- Secure software development
- Critical thinking and problem-solving
- Leadership and communication in cybersecurity
- AI-driven forensic analysis in cybersecurity
As with all OPIT’s MSc courses, it wraps up with a capstone project and dissertation, which sees students apply their skills in the real world, either with their existing company or through apprenticeship programs. This not only gives students hands-on experience, but also helps them demonstrate their added value when seeking new opportunities.
Obiora’s Experience
Speaking of his experience with OPIT, Obiora said that it went above and beyond what he expected. He was not surprised by the technical content, in which he was already well-versed, but rather the change in perspective that the course gave him. It helped him move from seeing himself as someone who implements cybersecurity solutions to someone who could shape strategy at the highest levels of an organization.
OPIT’s MSc has given Obiora the skills to speak to boards, connect risk with business priorities, and build organizations that don’t just defend against cyber risks but adapt to a changing digital world. He commented that studying at OPIT did not give him answers; instead, it gave him better questions and the tools to lead. Of course, it also ticks the MSc box, and while that might not be the main reason for studying at OPIT, it is certainly a clear benefit.
Obiora has now moved into a leading Chief Information Security Officer Role at MoMo, Payment Service Bank for MTN. There, he is building cyber-resilient financial systems, contributing to public-private partnerships, and mentoring the next generation of cybersecurity experts.
Leading Cybersecurity in Africa
As well as having a significant impact within his own organization, studying at OPIT has helped Obiora develop the skills and confidence needed to become a leader in the cybersecurity industry across Africa.
In March 2025, Obiora was featured on the cover of CIO Africa Magazine and was then a panelist on the “Future of Cybersecurity Careers in the Age of Generative AI” for Comercio Ltd. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry also invited him to speak on Cybersecurity in Africa.
Obiora recently presented the keynote speech at the Hackers Secret Conference 2025 on “Code in the Shadows: Harnessing the Human-AI Partnership in Cybersecurity.” In the talk, he explored how AI is revolutionizing incident response, enhancing its speed, precision, and proactivity, and improving on human-AI collaboration.
An OPIT Success Story
Talking about Obiora’s success, the OPIT Area Chair for Cybersecurity said:
“Obiora is a perfect example of what this program was designed for – experienced professionals ready to scale their impact beyond operations. It’s been inspiring to watch him transform technical excellence into strategic leadership. Africa’s cybersecurity landscape is stronger with people like him at the helm. Bravo, Obiora!”
Learn more about OPIT’s MSc in Cybersecurity and how it can support the next steps of your career.
-
Go to all authors
Related posts
From personalization to productivity: AI at the heart of the educational experience.
Click this link to read and download the e-book.
At its core, teaching is a simple endeavour. The experienced and learned pass on their knowledge and wisdom to new generations. Nothing has changed in that regard. What has changed is how new technologies emerge to facilitate that passing on of knowledge. The printing press, computers, the internet – all have transformed how educators teach and how students learn.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is the next game-changer in the educational space.
Specifically, AI agents have emerged as tools that utilize all of AI’s core strengths, such as data gathering and analysis, pattern identification, and information condensing. Those strengths have been refined, first into simple chatbots capable of providing answers, and now into agents capable of adapting how they learn and adjusting to the environment in which they’re placed. This adaptability, in particular, makes AI agents vital in the educational realm.
The reasons why are simple. AI agents can collect, analyse, and condense massive amounts of educational material across multiple subject areas. More importantly, they can deliver that information to students while observing how the students engage with the material presented. Those observations open the door for tweaks. An AI agent learns alongside their student. Only, the agent’s learning focuses on how it can adapt its delivery to account for a student’s strengths, weaknesses, interests, and existing knowledge.
Think of an AI agent like having a tutor – one who eschews set lesson plans in favour of an adaptive approach designed and tweaked constantly for each specific student.
In this eBook, the Open Institute of Technology (OPIT) will take you on a journey through the world of AI agents as they pertain to education. You will learn what these agents are, how they work, and what they’re capable of achieving in the educational sector. We also explore best practices and key approaches, focusing on how educators can use AI agents to the benefit of their students. Finally, we will discuss other AI tools that both complement and enhance an AI agent’s capabilities, ensuring you deliver the best possible educational experience to your students.
The Open Institute of Technology (OPIT) began enrolling students in 2023 to help bridge the skills gap between traditional university education and the requirements of the modern workplace. OPIT’s MSc courses aim to help professionals make a greater impact on their workplace through technology.
OPIT’s courses have become popular with business leaders hoping to develop a strong technical foundation to understand technologies, such as artificial intelligence (AI) and cybersecurity, that are shaping their industry. But OPIT is also attracting professionals with strong technical expertise looking to engage more deeply with the strategic side of digital innovation. This is the story of one such student, Obiora Awogu.
Meet Obiora
Obiora Awogu is a cybersecurity expert from Nigeria with a wealth of credentials and experience from working in the industry for a decade. Working in a lead data security role, he was considering “what’s next” for his career. He was contemplating earning an MSc to add to his list of qualifications he did not yet have, but which could open important doors. He discussed the idea with his mentor, who recommended OPIT, where he himself was already enrolled in an MSc program.
Obiora started looking at the program as a box-checking exercise, but quickly realized that it had so much more to offer. As well as being a fully EU-accredited course that could provide new opportunities with companies around the world, he recognized that the course was designed for people like him, who were ready to go from building to leading.
OPIT’s MSc in Cybersecurity
OPIT’s MSc in Cybersecurity launched in 2024 as a fully online and flexible program ideal for busy professionals like Obiora who want to study without taking a career break.
The course integrates technical and leadership expertise, equipping students to not only implement cybersecurity solutions but also lead cybersecurity initiatives. The curriculum combines technical training with real-world applications, emphasizing hands-on experience and soft skills development alongside hard technical know-how.
The course is led by Tom Vazdar, the Area Chair for Cybersecurity at OPIT, as well as the Chief Security Officer at Erste Bank Croatia and an Advisory Board Member for EC3 European Cybercrime Center. He is representative of the type of faculty OPIT recruits, who are both great teachers and active industry professionals dealing with current challenges daily.
Experts such as Matthew Jelavic, the CEO at CIM Chartered Manager Canada and President of Strategy One Consulting; Mahynour Ahmed, Senior Cloud Security Engineer at Grant Thornton LLP; and Sylvester Kaczmarek, former Chief Scientific Officer at We Space Technologies, join him.
Course content includes:
- Cybersecurity fundamentals and governance
- Network security and intrusion detection
- Legal aspects and compliance
- Cryptography and secure communications
- Data analytics and risk management
- Generative AI cybersecurity
- Business resilience and response strategies
- Behavioral cybersecurity
- Cloud and IoT security
- Secure software development
- Critical thinking and problem-solving
- Leadership and communication in cybersecurity
- AI-driven forensic analysis in cybersecurity
As with all OPIT’s MSc courses, it wraps up with a capstone project and dissertation, which sees students apply their skills in the real world, either with their existing company or through apprenticeship programs. This not only gives students hands-on experience, but also helps them demonstrate their added value when seeking new opportunities.
Obiora’s Experience
Speaking of his experience with OPIT, Obiora said that it went above and beyond what he expected. He was not surprised by the technical content, in which he was already well-versed, but rather the change in perspective that the course gave him. It helped him move from seeing himself as someone who implements cybersecurity solutions to someone who could shape strategy at the highest levels of an organization.
OPIT’s MSc has given Obiora the skills to speak to boards, connect risk with business priorities, and build organizations that don’t just defend against cyber risks but adapt to a changing digital world. He commented that studying at OPIT did not give him answers; instead, it gave him better questions and the tools to lead. Of course, it also ticks the MSc box, and while that might not be the main reason for studying at OPIT, it is certainly a clear benefit.
Obiora has now moved into a leading Chief Information Security Officer Role at MoMo, Payment Service Bank for MTN. There, he is building cyber-resilient financial systems, contributing to public-private partnerships, and mentoring the next generation of cybersecurity experts.
Leading Cybersecurity in Africa
As well as having a significant impact within his own organization, studying at OPIT has helped Obiora develop the skills and confidence needed to become a leader in the cybersecurity industry across Africa.
In March 2025, Obiora was featured on the cover of CIO Africa Magazine and was then a panelist on the “Future of Cybersecurity Careers in the Age of Generative AI” for Comercio Ltd. The Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry also invited him to speak on Cybersecurity in Africa.
Obiora recently presented the keynote speech at the Hackers Secret Conference 2025 on “Code in the Shadows: Harnessing the Human-AI Partnership in Cybersecurity.” In the talk, he explored how AI is revolutionizing incident response, enhancing its speed, precision, and proactivity, and improving on human-AI collaboration.
An OPIT Success Story
Talking about Obiora’s success, the OPIT Area Chair for Cybersecurity said:
“Obiora is a perfect example of what this program was designed for – experienced professionals ready to scale their impact beyond operations. It’s been inspiring to watch him transform technical excellence into strategic leadership. Africa’s cybersecurity landscape is stronger with people like him at the helm. Bravo, Obiora!”
Learn more about OPIT’s MSc in Cybersecurity and how it can support the next steps of your career.
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