What is data security?

Data security is the set of actions that an organization undertakes to protect the data that it creates, collects, and stores. It's important for your company to keep its data secure because secure data protects corporate and client information. A number of techniques comprise data security, including encryption, data masking, backup, and erasure. Keeping your data secure can protect your organization from criminal activity and legal action. Data security is increasingly important in a world where threats to data are more prevalent than ever.

Why is it important to learn data security?

It's important to learn about data security because everyone's data is increasingly at risk every day, and you can make a difference in solving that problem. Because organizations store so much of their data online, the data is vulnerable to attack, fraud, or theft, which is what makes data security essential for your company. Failing to protect your company's secrets and customer information can cost you dearly, and that's why data security has become a requirement for corporations. In-depth knowledge of data security can also lead to a lucrative career if you're looking for a change.

What career opportunities can arise from learning data security?

When you gain a thorough knowledge of data security, you can find career opportunities working as a security engineer or analyst with a corporation, or you can strike out on your own as a consultant working with multiple organizations. Many companies hire data security employees with degrees or training certificates, and the more advanced your training, the more money you can earn in the business. When you pass certain security clearances, you can also work for the military or federal government protecting classified information.

How can online courses on Coursera help me learn data security?

When you take online data security courses on Coursera, you're going to learn from some of the most prominent names in academia and industry, like Johns Hopkins University, IBM, and Amazon Web Services. You'll gain a thorough understanding of data security along with the practical applications of what you've learned. With your newfound knowledge of data security, you can advance in your current career or seek an exciting new job.

What are the benefits of taking an online Data Security course?

Online Data Security courses offer a convenient and flexible way to enhance your knowledge or learn new Data Security skills. Choose from a wide range of Data Security courses offered by top universities and industry leaders tailored to various skill levels.

What Data Security courses are best for training and upskilling employees or the workforce?

When looking to enhance your workforce's skills in Data Security, it's crucial to select a course that aligns with their current abilities and learning objectives. Our Skills Dashboard is an invaluable tool for identifying skill gaps and choosing the most appropriate course for effective upskilling. For a comprehensive understanding of how our courses can benefit your employees, explore the enterprise solutions we offer. Discover more about our tailored programs at Coursera for Business here .

Top Data Security Courses - Learn Data Security Online

Explore the Data Security Course Catalog

Johns Hopkins University
Genomic Data Science
Skills you'll gain: Bioinformatics, Unix Commands, Biostatistics, Exploratory Data Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Unix, Data Science, Data Management, Statistical Methods, Molecular Biology, Command-Line Interface, Statistical Hypothesis Testing, Linux Commands, Data Analysis Software, Statistical Modeling, Data Structures, Data Analysis, R Programming, Computational Thinking, Jupyter
4.5
Rating, 4.5 out of 5 stars
6.6K reviews
Intermediate · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
IBM
Data Engineering Foundations
Skills you'll gain: Web Scraping, Database Design, SQL, MySQL, Data Transformation, Data Store, Extract, Transform, Load, IBM DB2, Relational Databases, Data Architecture, Jupyter, Data Pipelines, Big Data, Data Warehousing, Data Governance, Data Manipulation, Stored Procedure, Databases, Automation, Python Programming
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
56K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Status: AI skills
Meta
Meta Data Analyst
Skills you'll gain: Data Storytelling, Business Metrics, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Data Management, Data Collection, Data Governance, Bayesian Statistics, Data Analysis, Descriptive Statistics, Statistical Hypothesis Testing, Information Privacy, Data Cleansing, Pandas (Python Package), Data Visualization Software, Statistical Inference, Spreadsheet Software, Correlation Analysis, Google Sheets, Exploratory Data Analysis, Data Modeling
4.7
Rating, 4.7 out of 5 stars
1.4K reviews
Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
Status: Free
Universiteit Leiden
Security & Safety Challenges in a Globalized World
Skills you'll gain: Risk Management Framework, Safety and Security, Security Management, Threat Management, Public Safety and National Security, Cybersecurity, Incident Management, International Relations, Environmental Issue, Governance
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
451 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 3 Months
Meta
Introduction to Data Management
Skills you'll gain: Data Management, Data Collection, Data Governance, Data Analysis, Information Privacy, Data Quality, Data Storage, Data Security, Data-Driven Decision-Making, Data Architecture, Data Visualization Software, Big Data, Machine Learning
4.8
Rating, 4.8 out of 5 stars
91 reviews
Beginner · Course · 1 - 4 Weeks
University of California, Davis
Data Visualization with Tableau
Skills you'll gain: Data Storytelling, Data Presentation, Data Visualization Software, Key Performance Indicators (KPIs), Data Visualization, Dashboard, Interactive Data Visualization, Data Mapping, Tableau Software, Proposal Development, Graphing, Histogram, Scatter Plots, Tree Maps, Exploratory Data Analysis, Statistical Visualization, Storytelling, Performance Metric, Geospatial Mapping, Heat Maps
4.5
Rating, 4.5 out of 5 stars
8.2K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Google Cloud
Preparing for Google Cloud Certification: Cloud Data Engineer
Skills you'll gain: Data Pipelines, Dataflow, Google Cloud Platform, Real Time Data, Data Maintenance, Data Lakes, Data Storage, MLOps (Machine Learning Operations), Data Analysis, Dashboard, Data Warehousing, Data Processing, Extract, Transform, Load, Cloud Engineering, Data Infrastructure, Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Storage, Big Data, Tensorflow, Unstructured Data
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
19K reviews
Intermediate · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
Meta
Meta Database Engineer
Skills you'll gain: MySQL, Database Design, Version Control, Database Management Systems, Database Management, MySQL Workbench, Extract, Transform, Load, Data Modeling, Data Structures, SQL, Unix Commands, Relational Databases, Databases, Git (Version Control System), Database Systems, Stored Procedure, Object Oriented Programming (OOP), Unit Testing, Algorithms, Django (Web Framework)
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
7.1K reviews
Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
Status: AI skills
IBM
IBM Data Analyst
Skills you'll gain: Data Storytelling, Dashboard, Data Visualization Software, Plotly, Data Wrangling, Data Visualization, Generative AI, SQL, Interactive Data Visualization, Exploratory Data Analysis, Data Cleansing, Big Data, Jupyter, Matplotlib, Data Analysis, Statistical Analysis, Pandas (Python Package), Data Manipulation, Excel Formulas, Professional Networking
Build toward a degree
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
91K reviews
Beginner · Professional Certificate · 3 - 6 Months
University of California San Diego
Big Data
Skills you'll gain: Apache Spark, Apache Hadoop, Data Integration, Exploratory Data Analysis, Big Data, Graph Theory, Data Pipelines, Database Design, Data Modeling, Regression Analysis, Data Mining, Applied Machine Learning, Data Presentation, Scalability, Data Processing, Statistical Analysis, Data Management, NoSQL, Database Management Systems, Network Analysis
4.5
Rating, 4.5 out of 5 stars
14K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Google Cloud
Data Engineering, Big Data, and Machine Learning on GCP
Skills you'll gain: Data Pipelines, Dataflow, Google Cloud Platform, Real Time Data, Data Lakes, MLOps (Machine Learning Operations), Dashboard, Data Warehousing, Extract, Transform, Load, Cloud Engineering, Data Infrastructure, Cloud Infrastructure, Cloud Storage, Big Data, Tensorflow, Unstructured Data, Data Integration, Data Migration, Data Processing, Data Visualization Software
4.6
Rating, 4.6 out of 5 stars
18K reviews
Intermediate · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months
Johns Hopkins University
Data Science
Skills you'll gain: Shiny (R Package), Rmarkdown, Exploratory Data Analysis, Regression Analysis, Leaflet (Software), Version Control, Statistical Analysis, R Programming, Data Manipulation, Data Cleansing, Data Science, Statistical Inference, Predictive Modeling, Statistical Hypothesis Testing, Data Wrangling, Data Visualization, Plotly, Machine Learning Algorithms, Plot (Graphics), Knitr
4.5
Rating, 4.5 out of 5 stars
51K reviews
Beginner · Specialization · 3 - 6 Months