7 best books to grow your cybersecurity career

Thanks to the increasing number of cyberattacks globally, cybersecurity is now one of the most in-demand career fields.

Every year individuals and organizations face the looming threat that it will be “the worst year yet”, so how are you supposed to stay ahead? A 2019 Cybersecurity Workforce Study by (ISC)² found, “The cybersecurity workforce needs to grow 145% to close the skills gap and better defend organizations worldwide.”

What does this mean? It means that, whether you’re considering a career in cybersecurity or are already working in the industry, there are plenty of opportunities for you to take your career wherever you’d like it to go. So, to help guide and inspire you, we asked our team to recommend their must-have cybersecurity or career-boosting books.

Here are our team’s favorite books that helped with their cybersecurity careers:

Best book for real-world cybersecurity implementation:
The Hacker Playbook 

You want to know: why are things in the cybersecurity world still broken? The Hacker Playbook Series promises to answer this and “take your offensive game to the pro tier.”

Why we like it: You’ll take a deep dive into offensive hacking skills. Learn about real-world cyberattacks in a heavily lab-based book series.

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Best book for action:
Atomic Habits

Keep your New Year’s resolution with these practical strategies to form new habits that will improve your career and your personal life.

Why we like it: It has recommendations that are easy to apply day-to-day, helping you get to where you need to be through incremental changes.

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Best book for igniting your tech career:
Be a Startup Superstar

Making career decisions can feel overwhelming, especially for those trying to grow their career.

Why we like it: It’s real-life advice from a successful startup expert on how to create the career you want by joining a tech startup.

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Best book for inspiration:
Tubes – A Journey to the Center of the Internet

Wired Correspondent Andrew Blum takes you inside the internet and the technology world we live in today.

Why we like it: It’s both technically intriguing and a story of places and people who make the internet what it is today.

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Best book for the ambitious CISO:
Dare to Lead

Great for the aspiring CISO; author Brene Brown dares you to lead boldly and build courage.

Why we like it: If there’s one thing organizations need right now it’s a strong leader on their cybersecurity team. Four skill sets are provided and promised to be 100% teachable with a little practice.

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Best book for getting inside the mind of a cyber criminal:
Spam Nation

Investigative journalist and cybersecurity aficionado Brian Krebs tells of how we unknowingly bring malicious cyber criminals into our lives every day.

Why we like it: Through firsthand interviews and extensive reporting, Krebs unveils an insider’s view of the largest spam and cyber criminal operations.

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Best book for overall career advice and development:
The One Thing You Need to Know

Marcus Buckingham tackles the complexities of management, leading, and success and zeros in on what matters most.

Why we like it: Extensive in-depth interviews and research enables Buckingham to share relevant examples of what it takes to be a great manager, a great leader, and be successful.

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Have you decided which book you’ll add to your reading list first? Or do you have a cybersecurity career book that didn’t make the list? Share it with us now—we’d love to read it too.

You may also be interested in: Top 10 Cybersecurity Experts to Follow