Swinburne Online’s cybersecurity certificate helped a career change

Covid-19’s many effects have included tipping people out of their old jobs, or tipping them into a decision long in the making: to change course. For Kieran Pepper, it did both.

“I started out in customer service and call centres, then I moved into business process analysis and business improvement roles, had a brief diversion into sales and that role was made redundant as a result of Covid-19,” Mr Pepper says of his decade working in financial services.

While investigating how to make his interest in technology work as a career, he consulted Swinburne Online and was already enrolled in the six-month graduate certificate of cybersecurity when his job was made redundant in August. His relevant work experience made him eligible despite the lack of an undergraduate degree and it was a natural fit.

“I have a strong interest in solving problems and helping people, and I love technology. I wanted to really bring that forward into my career,” Mr Pepper says.

The decision has paid off in spades: Mr Pepper was able to immediately land a new job as a consultant in strategy and consulting at cyber security service provider CyberCX.

It was around the same time that someone quite close to him became a victim of cyber crime.

“One of the reasons that I’m passionate about cyber security is because of this terrible thing that happened to my close loved one who has lost $800,000 because of cyber crime,” he says.

Without going into details, he notes an important distinction in how people typically think about cyber crime.

“It isn’t just about hackers, it’s about how they manipulate people into doing things,” he says.

“And like in my jobs before, I essentially ‘grew up’ in my career helping elderly people with their finances. These are all vulnerable people. They don’t know how to use technology.”

Mr Pepper was struck by the way in which Covid-19 forced the accelerated uptake of online work and education.

“What I saw was how people were really struggling with this rapid implementation of technology,” he says.

“I don’t think a lot of organisations were set up for remote work – that capability wasn’t necessarily mature and people had to do it overnight.

“We went from being in the office with each other where if somebody wanted to, they could print off (a document) and give it to someone else to look through, or if they needed to access a file, it was right there in front of them.

“But now they were at home and had to access their workplace remotely to get all the information. They had to learn to work solely with technology via output.”

In following that learning curve, cyber security became hugely relevant.

Mr Pepper’s graduate certificate, covering topics such as cyber security law, ethics and the motivations of hackers, set him up to advise on “determining what an appropriate level of cyber security should be put in place based on the risk profile of the business”.

“It’s an orchestration – business, technology, practices and people – and if one is out of tune, it will likely undo the efforts of the other three,” he says.

“I’m helping solve how a business can balance the needs of security, cost, risk, and the people themselves.”

There is more to learn: Mr Pepper has begun the Swinburne Online Master of Cybersecurity Management with an expected completion date of late next year or early 2023.

“Cyber-security attacks are an escalating threat to Australia’s critical infrastructure, impacting every sector of the economy, from financial services to healthcare,” CyberCX chief strategy officer Alastair MacGibbon said.

“With closed borders stifling the pipeline of skilled migrants, we’re seeing the demand for skilled cyber-security professionals fast outstrip the supply.”