Table 1Transition record

digital forensics experttocyber incident responder

A digital forensics expert already meets 34% of what the cyber incident responder role asks for. The move turns on 11 required skills not yet in the profile.

From digital forensics expert

34%

Overlap1

To cyber incident responder

18 Skills carried over

11 Required, not held

73.7 Difficulty2

Career overlap Distant match

34%

Learning distance Substantial retraining

73.7/ 100

Easy adjacentmoderatesubstantialcareer change Hard

1 Share of the cyber incident responder role’s weighted skill requirement already met by the digital forensics expert profile. Required skills count in full, supplementary skills at 0.35. Directional: the figure for the reverse move differs. 2 Combines what is missing with how specialised it is, so a gap of general skills scores easier than the same number of narrow ones.

Why

Why this move works

A cyber incident responder role treats 12 of its required skills as things a digital forensics expert already does. These are the ones it depends on most.

GDPR
ICT network security risks
ICT security legislation
ICT security standards
attack vectors
collect cyber defence data

What stands in the way is 11 required skills the profile does not yet cover. Table 3 groups them; Table 4 says which to take first.

Table 2

Table 2 · What you already bring

Of the 18 skills that carry over, these are the ones fewest other occupations ask for. A cyber incident responder role needs them, and most people applying for one will not have them already. This is the part of a digital forensics expert background worth leading with.

Skill the target role also needs Area

already held collect cyber defence data information skills
already held GDPR business, administration and law
already held operating systems information and communication technologies (icts)
already held develop information security strategy assisting and caring
already held cyber attack counter-measures services
already held ICT encryption information and communication technologies (icts)

All 18 carried skills, including the 12 the cyber incident responder role treats as required.

Table 3

Table 3 · What you would need to learn

The 57 missing skills fall into 13 areas of the ESCO skill hierarchy, numbered below in the order worth working in: the areas carrying the most required skills come first, and inside each one the required skills sit above the supplementary ones.

Skill to acquire Tier

01 working with computers 2 required, 8 supplementary

required, not held ICT safety required
required, not held protect ICT devices required

optional, not held implement a firewall optional
optional, not held implement a virtual private network optional
optional, not held implement anti-virus software optional
optional, not held implement spam protection optional
optional, not held manage changes in ICT system optional
optional, not held manage keys for data protection optional
optional, not held optimise choice of ICT solution optional
optional, not held remove computer virus or malware from a computer optional

02 communication, collaboration and creativity 2 required, 4 supplementary

required, not held communicate with stakeholders required
required, not held engage with stakeholders required

optional, not held consult with business clients optional
optional, not held give live presentation optional
optional, not held provide user documentation optional
optional, not held troubleshoot optional

03 information and communication technologies (icts) 1 required, 8 supplementary

required, not held ethical hacking principles required

optional, not held C++ optional
optional, not held ICT process quality models optional
optional, not held Internet of Things optional
optional, not held Python (computer programming) optional
optional, not held cloud monitoring and reporting optional
optional, not held cloud security and compliance optional
optional, not held internet governance optional
optional, not held web application security threats optional

04 business, administration and law 1 required, 6 supplementary

required, not held risk management required

optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
optional, not held Process-based management optional
optional, not held lean project management optional
optional, not held project management optional
optional, not held business intelligence optional
optional, not held copyright legislation optional

05 information skills 1 required, 5 supplementary

required, not held create incident reports required

optional, not held implement ICT risk management optional
optional, not held ensure proper document management optional
optional, not held perform risk analysis optional
optional, not held perform scientific research optional
optional, not held track key performance indicators optional

06 assisting and caring 1 required, 3 supplementary

required, not held handle cybersecurity incidents required

optional, not held ensure information security optional
optional, not held protect personal data and privacy optional
optional, not held provide information optional

7 further areas in the appendix

Table 4

Table 4 · Where to start

The 3 entries a cyber incident responder role is least likely to hire without. The ordering is computed from the skill data, not from what pays.

Each entry opens a course search for that skill. Career Overlap earns nothing from these links.

Appendix

Appendix · The rest of the record

All 18 skills that carry over

Skill Type

already held GDPR knowledge
already held ICT network security risks knowledge
already held ICT security legislation knowledge
already held ICT security standards knowledge
already held attack vectors knowledge
already held collect cyber defence data skill
already held cyber attack counter-measures knowledge
already held cyber security knowledge
already held operating systems knowledge
already held provide ICT consulting advice skill
already held security engineering knowledge
already held security threats knowledge
already held ICT encryption knowledge
already held cloud technologies knowledge
already held develop information security strategy skill
already held implement ICT security policies skill
already held information security strategy knowledge
already held manage IT security compliances skill

The 7 learning areas not shown above

Skill to acquire Tier

07 engineering, manufacturing and construction 1 required, 2 supplementary

required, not held building systems monitoring technology required

optional, not held embedded systems optional
optional, not held safety engineering optional

08 services 1 required, 1 supplementary

required, not held incidents and accidents recording required

optional, not held defence standard procedures optional

09 health and welfare 1 required

required, not held operational tactics for emergency responses required

10 management skills 6 supplementary

optional, not held lead disaster recovery exercises optional
optional, not held manage ICT change request process optional
optional, not held create project specifications optional
optional, not held define quality standards optional
optional, not held manage a team optional
optional, not held perform project management optional

11 constructing 1 supplementary

optional, not held monitor system performance optional

12 core skills and competences 1 supplementary

optional, not held manage digital identity optional

13 generic programmes and qualifications 1 supplementary

optional, not held leadership principles optional

46 supplementary skills, helpful but not required

Skill to acquire Tier

optional, not held C++ optional
optional, not held ICT process quality models optional
optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
optional, not held Internet of Things optional
optional, not held Process-based management optional
optional, not held Python (computer programming) optional
optional, not held cloud monitoring and reporting optional
optional, not held cloud security and compliance optional
optional, not held consult with business clients optional
optional, not held defence standard procedures optional
optional, not held embedded systems optional
optional, not held implement ICT risk management optional
optional, not held implement a firewall optional
optional, not held implement a virtual private network optional
optional, not held implement anti-virus software optional
optional, not held implement spam protection optional
optional, not held internet governance optional
optional, not held lead disaster recovery exercises optional
optional, not held lean project management optional
optional, not held manage ICT change request process optional
optional, not held manage changes in ICT system optional
optional, not held manage keys for data protection optional
optional, not held monitor system performance optional
optional, not held optimise choice of ICT solution optional
optional, not held project management optional
optional, not held web application security threats optional
optional, not held business intelligence optional
optional, not held copyright legislation optional
optional, not held create project specifications optional
optional, not held define quality standards optional
optional, not held ensure information security optional
optional, not held ensure proper document management optional
optional, not held give live presentation optional
optional, not held leadership principles optional
optional, not held manage a team optional
optional, not held manage digital identity optional
optional, not held perform project management optional
optional, not held perform risk analysis optional
optional, not held perform scientific research optional
optional, not held protect personal data and privacy optional

6 further entries not listed here

59 held skills the cyber incident responder role does not ask for

Skill Type

not needed by the target role Aircrack (penetration testing tool) knowledge
not needed by the target role Backbox (penetration testing tool) knowledge
not needed by the target role BlackArch knowledge
not needed by the target role Cain and Abel (penetration testing tool) knowledge
not needed by the target role ICT infrastructure knowledge
not needed by the target role John The Ripper (penetration testing tool) knowledge
not needed by the target role Kali Linux knowledge
not needed by the target role LDAP knowledge
not needed by the target role LINQ knowledge
not needed by the target role MDX knowledge
not needed by the target role Maltego knowledge
not needed by the target role Metasploit knowledge
not needed by the target role N1QL knowledge
not needed by the target role Nessus knowledge
not needed by the target role Nexpose knowledge
not needed by the target role OWASP ZAP knowledge
not needed by the target role Parrot Security OS knowledge
not needed by the target role SPARQL knowledge
not needed by the target role Samurai Web Testing Framework knowledge
not needed by the target role THC Hydra knowledge
not needed by the target role WhiteHat Sentinel knowledge
not needed by the target role Wireshark knowledge
not needed by the target role XQuery knowledge
not needed by the target role analyse network configuration and performance skill
not needed by the target role apply reverse engineering skill
not needed by the target role audit techniques knowledge
not needed by the target role check methods knowledge
not needed by the target role computer forensics knowledge
not needed by the target role data storage knowledge
not needed by the target role design computer network skill
not needed by the target role digital data processing skill
not needed by the target role educate on data confidentiality skill
not needed by the target role establish an ICT security prevention plan skill
not needed by the target role forensic intelligence knowledge
not needed by the target role gather data for forensic purposes skill
not needed by the target role hardware architectures knowledge
not needed by the target role hardware platforms knowledge
not needed by the target role identify ICT security risks skill
not needed by the target role identify ICT system weaknesses skill
not needed by the target role implement ICT network diagnostic tools skill

19 further entries not listed here

23 gaps that are knowledge rather than practice

Knowledge gaps usually close through study. Practical skill gaps usually need something you can point at.

Skill to acquire Tier

required, not held building systems monitoring technology required
required, not held ethical hacking principles required
required, not held incidents and accidents recording required
required, not held operational tactics for emergency responses required
required, not held risk management required
optional, not held C++ optional
optional, not held ICT process quality models optional
optional, not held ICT project management methodologies optional
optional, not held Internet of Things optional
optional, not held Process-based management optional
optional, not held Python (computer programming) optional
optional, not held cloud monitoring and reporting optional
optional, not held cloud security and compliance optional
optional, not held defence standard procedures optional
optional, not held embedded systems optional
optional, not held internet governance optional
optional, not held lean project management optional
optional, not held project management optional
optional, not held web application security threats optional
optional, not held business intelligence optional
optional, not held copyright legislation optional
optional, not held leadership principles optional
optional, not held safety engineering optional

Index

Other moves recorded from digital forensics expert

Full index of moves from digital forensics expert

Note

How this record was compiled

Both occupations are taken from ESCO, which lists the skills and knowledge each occupation is expected to have and marks every one required or optional. Nothing here is a prediction about hiring, and nothing here knows that a particular employer wants a particular certificate. Treat Table 3 as a starting point for your own research rather than a syllabus. The full method states what these figures can and cannot tell you.