Cyber Security Apprentice

Summary

You will have the opportunity to gain valuable skills, knowledge and experience as you complete a Cyber Security - Level 4 Apprenticeship. Duties will include Follow legal and best-practice to secure the council(s) digital infrastructure and offer advice on these, including proposing changes where necessary.

Annual wage: £20,048.08 a year
Minimum wage rates (opens in new tab)
Training course: Cyber security technologist (2021) (level 4)
Hours: Days and shifts to be confirmed.
37 hours 30 minutes a week
Possible start date: Monday 20 January
Duration: 1 year 4 months
Positions available: 1

Work

As an apprentice, you’ll work at a company and get hands-on experience. You’ll gain new skills and work alongside experienced staff.

What you’ll do at work

Develop a thorough knowledge of cyber security principles and legal requirements applying to the UK public sector environment
Help ensure the balance between digital security and our customer’s requirements to deliver their service are met at all times, and ensure senior officers are made aware of any conflicts immediately
Develop an awareness of service driven legislation which may affect cyber security
Be aware of data protection and freedom of information legislation and copyright guidance, ensuring these principles are always adhered to
Help ensure all digital logs from Firewalls, and other security devices, are stored securely and are available for analyses
Help ensure all available security device logs are analysed on a regular basis in agreement with the ICT management team

Where you’ll work

Parkside

Market Street

Bromsgrove

B61 8DA

Training

An apprenticeship includes regular training with a college or other training organisation. At least 20% of your working hours will be spent training or studying.

College or training organisation

QA LIMITED

Your training course

Cyber security technologist (2021) (level 4)

Equal to higher national certificate (HNC)

Course contents

Discover vulnerabilities in a system by using a mix of research and practical exploration
Analyse and evaluate security threats and hazards to a system or service or processes. Use relevant external source of threat intelligence or advice (e.g. National Cyber Security Centre) Combine different sources to create an enriched view of cyber threats and hazards
Research and investigate common attack techniques and relate these to normal and observed digital system behaviour and recommend how to defend against them. Interpret and demonstrate use of external source of vulnerabilities (e.g. OWASP, intelligence sharing initiatives, open source)
Undertake security risk assessments for simple systems without direct supervision and propose basic remediation advice in the context of the employer.
Source and analyse security cases and describe what threats, vulnerability or risks are mitigated and identify any residual areas of concern.
Analyse employer or customer requirements to derive security objectives and taking account of the threats and overall context develop a security case which sets out the proposed security measures in the context with reasoned justification
Identify and follow organisational policies and standards for information and cyber security and operate according to service level agreements or other defined performance targets.
Configure, deploy and use computer, digital network and cyber security technology.
Recommend improvements to the cyber security posture of an employer or customer based on research into future potential cyber threats and considering threat trends.
Write program code or scripts to meet a given design requirement in accordance with employers' coding standards
Identify cyber security threats relevant to a defined context
Accurately, objectively and concisely record and report the appropriate cyber security information, including in written reports within a structure or template provided.
Design, build, test and troubleshoot a network incorporating more than one subnet with static and dynamic routes, to a given design requirement without supervision. Provide evidence that the system meets the design requirement.
Analyse security requirements given (functional and non-functional security requirements that may be presented in a security case) against other design requirements (e.g. usability, cost, size, weight, power, heat, supportability etc.) for a given system or product. Identify conflicting requirements and propose, with reasoning, resolution through appropriate trade-offs.
Design and build, systems in accordance with a security case within broad but generally well-defined parameters. This should include selection and configuration of typical security hardware and software components. Provide evidence that the system has properly implemented the security controls required by the security case
Design systems employing encryption to meet defined security objectives. Develop and implement a plan for managing the associated encryption keys for the given scenario or system.
Use tools, techniques and processes to actively prevent breaches to digital system security.
Configure digital system monitoring and analysis tools (e.g. SIEM tools), taking account of threat & vulnerability intelligence, indicators of compromise.
Conduct cyber-risk assessments against an externally (market) recognised cyber security standard using a recognised risk assessment methodology.
Develop information security policies or processes to address a set of identified risks, for example from security audit recommendations.
Develop information security policies within a defined scope to take account of legislation and regulation relevant to cyber security.
Take an active part in a security audits against recognised cyber security standards, undertake gap analysis and make recommendations for remediation..
Develop plans for local business continuity for approval within defined governance arrangements for business continuity.
Assess security culture using a recognised approach.
Design and implement a simple ‘security awareness’ campaign to address a specific aspect of a security culture.
Develop plans for incident response for approval within defined governance arrangements for incident response.
Integrate and correlate information from various sources (including log files from different sources, digital system monitoring tools, Secure Information and Event Management (SIEM) tools, access control systems, physical security systems) and compare to known threat and vulnerability data to form a judgement based on evidence with reasoning that the anomaly represents a digital system security breach
Recognise anomalies in observed digital system data structures (including by inspection of network packet data structures) and digital system behaviours (including by inspection of protocol behaviours) and by inspection of log files and by investigation of alerts raised by automated tools including SIEM tools.
Undertake root cause analysis of events and make recommendations to reduce false positives and false negatives.
Manage local response to non-major incidents in accordance with a defined procedure.
Discover vulnerabilities in a system by using a mix of research and practical exploration
Analyse and evaluate security threats and hazards to a system or service or processes. Use relevant external source of threat intelligence or advice (e.g. National Cyber Security Centre) Combine different sources to create an enriched view of cyber threats and hazards
Research and investigate common attack techniques and relate these to normal and observed digital system behaviour and recommend how to defend against them. Interpret and demonstrate use of external source of vulnerabilities (e.g. OWASP, intelligence sharing initiatives, open source)
Undertake security risk assessments for simple systems without direct supervision and propose basic remediation advice in the context of the employer.
Source and analyse security cases and describe what threats, vulnerability or risks are mitigated and identify any residual areas of concern.
Analyse employer or customer requirements to derive security objectives and taking account of the threats and overall context develop a security case which sets out the proposed security measures in the context with reasoned justification
Identify and follow organisational policies and standards for information and cyber security and operate according to service level agreements or other defined performance targets.
Configure, deploy and use computer, digital network and cyber security technology.
Recommend improvements to the cyber security posture of an employer or customer based on research into future potential cyber threats and considering threat trends.
Write program code or scripts to meet a given design requirement in accordance with employers' coding standards
Identify cyber security threats relevant to a defined context
Accurately, objectively and concisely record and report the appropriate cyber security information, including in written reports within a structure or template provided.

Your training plan

Why choose our Cyber Security Engineer Level 4 Apprenticeship?

The Cyber Security Engineer apprentice can help to design, build and test secure networks, security products or systems to help protect your organisation against cyber threats. QA is a market leader in cyber security training, with a state-of-the-art immersive cyber gamified learning, giving apprentices a hands-on learning experience in simulating a real cyber threat.

QA's exclusive partnership with Circadence Corporation, the pioneer of the hands-on gamified learning platform Project Ares®, allows us to uniquely incorporate hands-on scenario training into our cyber security apprenticeships. The Project Ares platform offers a totally immersive experience, using automated features to support skills adoption with an in-game advisor, Athena, who advises our players through scenario-based challenges. The platform scenarios replicate the unpredictability and escalating levels of complexity that cyberattacks can present. It drives high levels of engagement through leaderboards and badges, elements used widely in the gaming world.

QA’s Cyber Security Engineer Level 4 apprenticeship programme enables the apprentice to:

Develop problem-solving and critical thinking skills in a safe, but realistic environment
Apply all of the acquired skills throughout the programme, with added scoring of players and opponent actions with replay for object assessment
Take part in hands-on training and active-learning models that increase retention rates by 75% so that cyber apprentices can prepare for real-world challenges
Tools and technologies learned: Apprentices will learn to use Project Ares, Python, Microsoft Azure, Microsoft PowerShell, Linux and AWS

Requirements

Essential qualifications

A Level in:

ICT (grade 3+ (D or above))

Let the company know about other relevant qualifications and industry experience you have. They can adjust the apprenticeship to reflect what you already know.

Skills

Communication skills
IT skills
Attention to detail
Team working
Non judgemental

About this company

Bromsgrove District Council is a progressive and inclusive employer committed to enriching the lives of its community and employees. With a workforce of around 850 staff, the Council operates under the guiding principles of Purpose, People, Pride, and Performance. These principles shape the organisational culture, ensuring that every employee feels valued and motivated to contribute to the Council's mission.

Company benefits

24 days Annual Leave Employee Benefits Scheme Discounts & Offers with Retailers

After this apprenticeship

90% of QA Apprentices secure permanent employment after finishing their apprenticeship
Additionally, there may be opportunities to undertake further apprenticeship training as many of our programs offer on-going development tracks

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