Network Support to Cybersecurity Analyst: How C| CT's Practical Approach Transformed Benson Mburu's Career

Benson Mburu

Title: Cybersecurity Analyst
Company: Safaricom PLC
Country: Kenya

Benson Mburu, a cybersecurity analyst at Safaricom PLC, shares his journey and insights on the Certified Cybersecurity Technician (C|CT) certification from EC-Council. Driven by a passion for securing both physical and digital spaces, Benson ventured into the cybersecurity field.

In this interview, Benson walks us through his experience with the C|CT, highlighting the value of the comprehensive curriculum, which helped him learn about sandboxing, vulnerabilities, and different types of attacks. These lessons helped him develop practical skills and a thorough understanding of how various threats can impact the security of systems and applications.

Benson also discusses the unique features of the C|CT program, which, according to him, sets it apart from other entry-level certifications. He highlights how the program’s hands-on approach, including 85 practical labs, played a significant role in his transition from network support to cybersecurity analyst.

Is C|CT Worth It?

The C|CT program helped me transition from a network support role to a cybersecurity analyst position in my company’s Cyber Defence Centre. The hands-on experience and skills I gained have been invaluable, enabling me to conduct high-quality investigations and tackle real-world cybersecurity challenges with confidence.

What made you select the cybersecurity industry?

The world today has become digital, with everything revolving around data and interconnectivity. With this shift comes numerous risks, including hacking incidents and the like. I decided to venture into cybersecurity to understand how to secure information and contribute to making the physical and digital world a safer place.

How has the C|CT prepared you to build your foundational skills in cybersecurity?

I like that the structure of the course was broad in terms of the topics covered, which gave me a comprehensive view of where security breaches can occur. It also helped me familiarize myself with the different areas that could lead to cybersecurity events.

In the C|CT, you explore many cybersecurity domains, such as ethical hacking, networking, forensics, and threat intelligence. How important is it to learn about all these domains, especially during the early stages of your career?

It’s important to have a broad view of the cybersecurity landscape because it allows someone to discover their interest. After going through all the areas, you’re able to identify which topic to focus on or become an expert in. Going through all those domains helped me decide where to put more effort and understand where my interest lies.

Tell us about your experience with C|CT’s labs, the importance of having 80+ labs in an entry-level cybersecurity program, and how these labs helped you.

I liked the C|CT labs because they provided me with a practical approach and a sense of how real-world cybersecurity events unfold

That hands-on approach offers practical experience, which I think is very important because it is always an issue when you have a lot of theoretical information but are still not able to apply it to practical scenarios.

Which part or exercise did you love the most when working with C|CT labs, and why?

I’m very interested in application security, owing to the fact that the world and everything today is online, and many services run on applications. So, application security, for me, is very important.

We learned about vulnerabilities, sandboxing, and different types of attacks that can become security risks when dealing with applications.

How have the CTF-style challenges or exercises in the course helped you in the learning curve?

The challenges shifted my thinking from a theoretical approach to how I would have to deal with events in the real world. It was about shifting my mind toward being a problem solver and looking at things practically.

Was C|CT able to help you gain skills more on a technical level and not just theory? If yes, how?

I gained hands-on experience. Before enrolling in the C|CT course, I only had theoretical knowledge and not much hands-on experience. But now,

After completing the course and having gone through the 85 labs, I’m able to really get things done practically. This practical aspect has helped me apply theoretical information to real-world scenarios.

Has the C|CT program prepared you well enough and made you more confident about taking advanced courses in the future?

Yes, the C|CT laid a very firm foundation toward achieving the Certified Ethical Hacker (C|EH) certification. After completing the C|CT course, I found it very easy to transition into studying for the C|EH certification, which I found very helpful.

Have you completed any other entry-level cybersecurity certifications? If yes, how different have you found C|CT compared to them?

Yes, I have acquired other entry-level certifications.

One thing that I can say about the C|CT is that it has a hands-on approach, which the others lack.

I think this practical experience is important for learners to become really proficient in this area.

What part of the C|CT performance-based exam did you like the most? How was the overall experience of the C|CT exam?

The C|CT exam was okay, and the part that I liked most was where it tested my real understanding of the concepts. I also liked the section that included labs, which tested my understanding rather than just memorizing some paths.

What was your favorite feature of the C|CT program?

My favorite feature was the intensive labs that helped me understand the concepts in depth, coupled with the theoretical material.