Maths for Cyber Security Jobs: The Only Topics You Actually Need (& How to Learn Them)
If you are applying for cyber security jobs in the UK it can feel like “real security people” must be brilliant at maths. The reality is simpler: most roles do not need degree-level pure maths. What they do need is confidence with a small set of practical topics that show up repeatedly in day-to-day work across SOC, incident response, cloud security, AppSec, threat detection, IAM & security engineering. This guide strips the maths down to what actually helps you get hired. It includes a 6-week learning plan plus portfolio projects you can publish to prove the skills. You will focus on: Number systems & bitwise thinking (binary, hex, bytes, XOR) Modular arithmetic basics (enough to understand how modern crypto “works”) Probability & statistics for detection, triage & risk Discrete maths for logic, sets, graphs & complexity Security maths habits: estimation, false positive control & evidence-led reporting You will not waste time on heavy theory that rarely appears in junior or mid-level cyber security roles.
