Intro
Cybersecurity remains a major area of demand within the IT workforce in 2026, but employers are increasingly looking beyond certifications when assessing candidates. CompTIA Security+ continues to provide a recognised foundation in areas such as threats and vulnerabilities, security operations, identity and access management, cryptography and governance. However, current workforce data indicates that employers increasingly want candidates who can demonstrate practical skills alongside certification. CyberSeek reported more than 514,000 U.S. cybersecurity job listings during its May 2024–April 2025 reporting period, while ISC2’s 2025 research identified significant skills needs across areas including AI, cloud security, risk assessment, application security and security engineering.
For people pursuing an IT certification or entry-level cybersecurity career in 2026, this creates an important distinction: Security+ can help establish foundational knowledge, but it is increasingly one part of a broader employability profile. Candidates who combine Security+ with networking, SIEM tools, cloud security, identity management, vulnerability assessment, incident response, scripting and AI awareness can demonstrate a more practical understanding of modern cybersecurity. Strong communication, problem solving and collaboration skills are also becoming increasingly important as employers place greater emphasis on skills-based hiring and practical capability.
Lets Dive In
Security+ Remains Relevant to Entry-Level Cybersecurity
CompTIA Security+ remains one of the most recognisable entry-level cybersecurity certifications and is particularly relevant to candidates building their first formal security credential. The current SY0-701 version covers five broad areas: general security concepts, threats and vulnerabilities, security architecture, security operations, and security program management and oversight.
The certification is valuable because it provides a structured foundation across multiple areas of cybersecurity rather than focusing exclusively on one technology or security platform. A learner preparing for Security+ is expected to understand concepts such as authentication and authorisation, security controls, vulnerability management, network security, cryptography, incident response, security monitoring, governance and risk.
However, employers do not necessarily interpret a Security+ certification as proof that someone can independently operate a security environment. The distinction between knowing a security concept and applying that concept in a live or simulated environment is becoming increasingly important.
CyberSeek’s career-pathway data connects cybersecurity roles with specific skills, certifications and education requirements, illustrating that employers frequently request combinations of technical capabilities rather than a single credential. Security+ can therefore function as a foundation on which candidates build additional technical experience.
This is particularly relevant for people applying for roles such as junior cybersecurity analyst, security operations centre analyst, IT security technician, junior security administrator or security support specialist. For these positions, candidates may need to demonstrate an understanding of security principles while also showing that they can investigate alerts, document incidents, work with IT teams and follow established security procedures.
Cybersecurity Hiring Is Becoming More Skills-Focused
One of the clearest trends entering 2026 is the increasing emphasis on demonstrable skills.
CyberSeek’s latest data shows that skills-based hiring continues to gain momentum, with employers considering a broader range of candidate backgrounds. This matters because cybersecurity has traditionally been associated with university degrees, previous IT experience and professional certifications. While those qualifications remain relevant, employers are increasingly interested in evidence that candidates can actually perform security-related tasks.
ISC2’s 2025 research provides particularly useful evidence for people targeting entry-level positions. Its research into cybersecurity hiring managers found that 84% use skills-based assessments during recruitment. For entry-level professionals, the four tasks most frequently identified as appropriate were documentation, alert and event management, reporting, and physical access controls.
This suggests that candidates should think beyond exam preparation. A learner who can demonstrate experience analysing security alerts, writing incident reports, documenting procedures or working through simulated security events may be able to provide employers with stronger evidence of practical capability than a certification alone.
The implication is not that Security+ has become less useful. Rather, the certification increasingly works as part of a wider skills portfolio.
What Employers Expect Alongside Security+
The cybersecurity skills landscape has expanded significantly. Security+ provides a foundation, but employers increasingly expect candidates to develop additional capabilities around the technologies and processes used in modern organisations.
Networking and Network Security
Networking remains fundamental to cybersecurity. Security professionals need to understand how devices communicate, how traffic moves across networks and how security controls protect network infrastructure.
Candidates should be comfortable with TCP/IP, DNS, DHCP, VPNs, firewalls, network segmentation, routing, switching and common network protocols. Understanding packet captures and basic network troubleshooting can also be valuable when investigating suspicious traffic.
For Security+ candidates, strengthening networking knowledge creates an important bridge between certification theory and practical security analysis.
Security Information and Event Management
SIEM technology has become a particularly relevant practical skill for aspiring security analysts. SIEM platforms collect and analyse logs from systems, applications, endpoints and network devices, allowing security teams to identify suspicious behaviour and investigate potential incidents.
ISC2’s 2025 hiring research found alert and event management among the most appropriate responsibilities for entry-level cybersecurity professionals.
Candidates can therefore benefit from gaining practical exposure to SIEM concepts and tools. Learning how to identify unusual authentication activity, investigate failed login attempts, recognise suspicious processes and correlate events across multiple systems can turn theoretical security knowledge into demonstrable analytical ability.
Cloud Security
Cloud security has moved well beyond being an advanced specialisation. Modern organisations increasingly operate hybrid and cloud environments, creating demand for professionals who understand how security principles apply to cloud infrastructure.
ISC2 identified cloud security as the second most pressing technical skills need among its 2025 workforce respondents, cited by 36%, behind AI at 41%. Within cloud security, respondents highlighted cloud architecture and secure design, cloud infrastructure security, secure deployment and configuration management, identity and access management, and cloud data protection.
Security+ candidates therefore have an opportunity to extend their knowledge into platforms such as Microsoft Azure, Amazon Web Services and Google Cloud. Even basic understanding of cloud identity, permissions, network security, logging, encryption and configuration management can make a cybersecurity foundation more relevant to contemporary IT environments.
Identity and Access Management
Identity and access management is another increasingly important cybersecurity capability.
Organisations need professionals who understand authentication, authorisation, privileged access, multi-factor authentication, role-based access control and identity governance. As businesses adopt cloud applications and distributed working environments, controlling who can access systems and what they can do once authenticated becomes a central security responsibility.
Security+ provides foundational knowledge in this area, but candidates can strengthen their profile by gaining practical experience with identity platforms and access-control scenarios.
Vulnerability Management
Vulnerability management provides another practical extension to Security+ knowledge.
Employers need security professionals who can understand vulnerabilities, assess risk, prioritise remediation and communicate findings to technical teams. Learning how vulnerability scanners work and how organisations prioritise vulnerabilities can help candidates understand the complete process rather than simply memorising vulnerability terminology for an examination.
Practical exercises involving vulnerability assessment, remediation planning and reporting can also provide useful portfolio material.
Incident Response
Incident response remains a core cybersecurity capability. Entry-level analysts may not be expected to lead complex investigations, but they can be expected to recognise suspicious events, escalate incidents, document findings and follow established procedures.
ISC2’s hiring research found alert and event management and reporting among the tasks hiring managers considered suitable for entry-level cybersecurity professionals, while junior professionals were increasingly expected to contribute to areas such as intrusion detection, endpoint remediation, backup and recovery, and penetration testing.
Learning the basic incident-response lifecycle therefore provides a practical extension to Security+ knowledge.
AI Is Changing Cybersecurity Skills Requirements
Artificial intelligence is becoming one of the most significant additions to the cybersecurity skills landscape.
CyberSeek reported that approximately 10% of cybersecurity job listings in its May 2024–April 2025 dataset specifically referenced AI skills. ISC2’s 2025 workforce research went further, identifying AI as the most pressing cybersecurity skills need, cited by 41% of respondents.
For entry-level candidates, this does not necessarily mean becoming an AI engineer. Instead, cybersecurity professionals increasingly need to understand how AI is being used both defensively and offensively.
This includes understanding AI-assisted threat detection, automated security analysis, phishing and social-engineering risks, AI-generated attacks, security implications of large language models and the appropriate use of AI tools in security workflows.
Candidates should also understand that AI does not remove the importance of fundamental cybersecurity knowledge. Instead, it changes how professionals use that knowledge. An analyst who understands networking, identity, vulnerabilities and security operations can use AI tools to accelerate certain activities, while still needing the judgement to validate results and identify false positives.
Soft Skills Are Becoming Technical Career Skills
One of the most important findings from recent cybersecurity hiring research is that employers are not focusing exclusively on technical capabilities.
ISC2’s 2025 workforce research found that the top five skills hiring managers were looking for were all nontechnical: problem solving, collaboration, communication, willingness to learn and strategic thinking.
Its separate research into early-career cybersecurity hiring similarly found teamwork and the ability to work independently among the most highly valued nontechnical characteristics. The study also emphasised problem solving, critical thinking and analytical thinking.
This makes sense because cybersecurity is rarely an isolated technical activity. Security analysts communicate with infrastructure teams, developers, managers, compliance professionals and business stakeholders. They need to explain risks, document incidents, prioritise tasks and communicate technical findings clearly.
For Security+ candidates, developing communication skills alongside technical knowledge can therefore be a meaningful part of career preparation.
IT Experience Remains an Important Pathway
Another important trend is the continued relationship between IT and cybersecurity.
The 2025 ISC2 workforce study found that 56% of respondents entered cybersecurity through an IT pathway. Within that group, 36% first took on cybersecurity responsibilities while working in IT, while 20% moved directly from IT into cybersecurity.
This demonstrates why foundational IT knowledge remains valuable for aspiring security professionals.
Experience in technical support, systems administration, networking, cloud administration or other IT roles can provide practical knowledge that is difficult to acquire solely through certification study. Understanding how organisations deploy, maintain and troubleshoot technology provides context for understanding how those systems can be attacked and protected.
For someone starting from scratch, Security+ can therefore be combined with foundational IT and networking training. For someone already working in IT, adding Security+ and practical security skills may provide a more direct transition into cybersecurity responsibilities.
Entry-Level Candidates Need Evidence of Practical Ability
The biggest change in cybersecurity hiring is arguably the growing importance of evidence.
Instead of treating certification as the final destination, candidates can use Security+ as the starting point for building a practical portfolio.
A home cybersecurity laboratory can provide one way to do this. Learners can experiment with virtual machines, Windows and Linux systems, network monitoring, vulnerability scanning, authentication controls and security logging. They can document what they configured, what they discovered and how they responded to simulated security events.
Projects can also be used to demonstrate practical skills. A candidate might document a simulated phishing investigation, create a vulnerability assessment report, analyse authentication logs, configure basic network security controls or build a simple incident-response workflow.
The objective is not to create an elaborate cybersecurity laboratory. It is to demonstrate the ability to apply knowledge.
This aligns with the growing emphasis on skills-based assessment identified by ISC2.
Recommended Online Courses to Build Cybersecurity Skills in 2026
Online courses can provide a structured way to prepare for Security+ while developing the broader skills increasingly requested by employers. The following three courses were selected because of their strong learner ratings, substantial enrolment levels and relevance to current cybersecurity career development.
CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) Complete Course & Practice Exam — Udemy
Platform: Udemy
Level: Beginner to Intermediate
Focus: Security+ certification, cybersecurity fundamentals, threats and vulnerabilities, security architecture, security operations and governance
This is one of the most established Security+ preparation courses available online and is particularly relevant to learners who want a comprehensive route into the SY0-701 examination. The course is currently marked as a Bestseller and Highest Rated on Udemy, with a 4.7/5 rating from more than 122,000 ratings and more than 525,000 students. It was also updated in September 2026.
The course covers fundamental security concepts, threats and vulnerabilities, security architecture, security operations and security program management. Its combination of certification preparation and practice material makes it useful for learners who want to establish the Security+ foundation before progressing into specialist skills.
For 2026 learners, the most useful approach is to treat the certification material as a foundation and then complement it with practical work involving SIEM, networking, cloud security, vulnerability management and incident response.
Course Link: CompTIA Security+ (SY0-701) Complete Course & Practice Exam — Udemy
Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate — Coursera
Platform: Coursera
Level: Beginner
Focus: Cybersecurity fundamentals, SIEM, network security, Linux, Python, incident response and security operations
The Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate is designed for people entering cybersecurity without previous professional experience. Coursera currently reports more than 1.6 million enrolments and a 4.8/5 rating based on more than 69,000 reviews across the programme.
The nine-course programme covers cybersecurity fundamentals while introducing practical areas including Linux, Python, network security and SIEM tools. It also includes newer AI-related training, reflecting the changing requirements of the cybersecurity workforce.
This makes the programme particularly relevant for candidates who want to supplement certification study with broader practical skills. Security+ provides a vendor-neutral foundation, while the Google programme can help learners develop practical familiarity with security operations and technical tools.
Course Link: Google Cybersecurity Professional Certificate — Coursera
IBM Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate — Coursera
Platform: Coursera
Level: Beginner
Focus: Security analysis, threat intelligence, incident response, network security, vulnerability assessment and cybersecurity operations
The IBM Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate is another well-established programme for learners developing practical cybersecurity skills. Coursera’s current catalogue lists the programme at 4.6/5 based on more than 28,000 reviews.
The programme is particularly relevant to the transition from cybersecurity fundamentals into analyst-oriented skills. Its subject areas include security analysis, network security, threat intelligence, vulnerability assessment and incident response, providing a useful complement to Security+ preparation.
For candidates building an entry-level portfolio, analyst-focused learning can also help translate certification knowledge into practical activities such as investigating suspicious events, assessing vulnerabilities and documenting security findings.
Course Link: IBM Cybersecurity Analyst Professional Certificate — Coursera
Building a Security+ and Beyond Learning Path
For someone starting a cybersecurity career in 2026, a sensible development pathway can combine certification knowledge with practical technical experience.
The first stage is building a foundation in IT, networking and cybersecurity concepts. Security+ can then provide a structured framework for understanding security principles across different environments.
The second stage should focus on practical skills. Candidates can develop familiarity with SIEM platforms, security monitoring, vulnerability assessment, Linux, scripting, identity management and incident response. Cloud security should increasingly form part of this stage as organisations continue to operate hybrid and cloud infrastructure.
The third stage is specialisation. Depending on career goals, this might involve security operations, cloud security, penetration testing, digital forensics, application security, governance, risk and compliance, security engineering or identity and access management.
The fourth stage is continuous development. Cybersecurity changes too quickly for a single certification to represent a complete career skill set. ISC2’s 2025 research highlights the importance of continual skill development, with organisations increasingly focusing on building and expanding existing capabilities rather than relying solely on increasing headcount.
What Security+ Candidates Should Put on Their CV
A cybersecurity CV in 2026 can benefit from showing more than certification titles.
Candidates should describe practical projects, laboratories, technical environments and security tasks alongside formal qualifications. Instead of simply stating that they understand SIEM technology, for example, they can describe a project in which they analysed authentication logs or investigated simulated security alerts.
Similarly, rather than listing vulnerability management as a skill without evidence, candidates can describe a project involving vulnerability scanning, risk prioritisation and remediation recommendations.
The same principle applies to cloud security, networking, incident response and scripting. Practical evidence gives employers something tangible to evaluate.
Candidates should also highlight communication and analytical skills. This is particularly important given ISC2’s finding that problem solving, collaboration, communication, willingness to learn and strategic thinking were the five leading nontechnical skills hiring managers sought.
The Future of Entry-Level Cybersecurity Certification
The role of entry-level cybersecurity certifications is changing rather than disappearing.
Security+ remains relevant because it provides a structured, vendor-neutral foundation and can help employers identify candidates who have studied core cybersecurity concepts. However, the broader hiring environment increasingly rewards candidates who can combine certification knowledge with practical technical ability.
CyberSeek’s data illustrates the scale and diversity of the cybersecurity labour market, while ISC2’s research highlights the specific skills employers and cybersecurity teams are struggling to develop.
The emerging model is therefore less about certification versus experience and more about certification plus demonstrable skills.
Candidates who combine Security+ with networking, SIEM, cloud security, IAM, vulnerability management, incident response, scripting and AI awareness can build a broader technical foundation. Adding communication, problem solving and collaboration skills can further align their profile with the capabilities cybersecurity hiring managers report seeking.
Final Thoughts
Cybersecurity hiring in 2026 is increasingly focused on what candidates can do as well as what certifications they hold. Security+ remains a useful entry-level credential, but current workforce research shows that employers are looking for broader capabilities spanning cloud security, AI, security analysis, risk assessment, application security and security engineering. CyberSeek’s job-market data also demonstrates continuing demand for cybersecurity professionals, while its skills-based hiring data highlights the importance of practical capabilities alongside traditional qualifications.
For aspiring cybersecurity professionals, the most useful approach is therefore to treat Security+ as a foundation rather than an endpoint. Combining certification study with hands-on laboratories, SIEM and security-analysis experience, cloud and identity knowledge, vulnerability management, incident-response practice and strong communication skills can create a more comprehensive career profile. As cybersecurity teams continue to adapt to AI, cloud adoption and rapidly changing threats, continuous upskilling is likely to remain an important part of building and maintaining a career in IT security.
