A cybersecurity specialist is a security professional who leverages skills, technology expertise and training to secure an enterprise’s sensitive data from both internal and external threats. This professional identifies vulnerabilities and conducts threat and risk analysis to monitor and combat intrusions against company infrastructure. This article explains the role of a cybersecurity specialist and lists the job skills needed to succeed in this field. It’s easy to get overwhelmed by all the cybersecurity training choices. Fortunately, Simplilearn is here to make things, well, simpler for you!

On its Career Pathways page, CyberSeek lists Cybersecurity Specialist as an entry-level position (one that pays an average annual salary of $99,652). Finally, holding the position of security specialist might require helping co-workers adopt new technologies and security software as it develops. But most people are reluctant to change, especially if it requires learning a new operating procedure or work-flow. So the ability to articulate the reason for the change and the ability to relate to co-workers’ needs and objections is also important. There are a number of network-oriented professional cybersecurity organizations and groups that are specifically designed to alert members about job openings and professional development opportunities.

Salary

The primary goal of cyber security specialists is to maintain the data and IT infrastructure of a company, which necessitates a broad range of duties and skills. This IT expert will conduct threat and risk analysis and examine the business effect of new and existing systems and technologies to remove risk, how to become a security specialist performance, and capacity issues. Cyber Security Specialists are responsible for providing security for an organization’s overall IT systems. They search for vulnerabilities in software, hardware, networks, and data centers and design strategies and defensive systems to protect against attacks and threats.

The ability to look at a problem, understand it, and come up with a viable solution is important across different walks of life and even more so for cyber security. Here, cyber security professionals have to preempt the problems and solve them before they even happen. You wouldn’t want your cyber security team to always react after a breach, would you? The ideal scenario will be to prevent the breach from happening in the first place.

Familiarity with Operating Systems and Virtual Devices

A cybersecurity specialist’s role provides exciting opportunities to handle critical cyber threats and, in turn, safeguard a company’s information systems and infrastructure. You will play a pivotal role in making strategic decisions, thereby providing tactical advice to secure business-critical operations. You will also get the chance to solve complex cybersecurity events by applying your technical and scientific expertise. Cybersecurity specialists are responsible for performing investigative analysis and diagnosis of cyber threats to identify the loopholes in a system. This requires these security professionals to have the ability to dig deep and perform a thorough analysis of any security event.

  • Every internship or entry-level job allows you to build on the knowledge and skill you learned in college.
  • Security analysts sometimes work with multiple departments to ensure their colleagues understand the organization’s best practices for information security.
  • Current issues in cybersecurity include data privacy, machine learning, AI, cryptocurrency, and increasingly sophisticated cybercrime strategies.
  • There are a number of network-oriented professional cybersecurity organizations and groups that are specifically designed to alert members about job openings and professional development opportunities.
  • They play a crucial role in protecting organizations’ valuable data and ensuring the integrity and confidentiality of information.
  • As the largest association of cyber security students, NCSA provides members with access to the
    latest cyber
    security research and development, conferences and training events, and networking opportunities.

The Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification is also considered a more advanced cert because it generally requires that applicants have multiple years of work experience. The goal of an ethical hacker certification is to be able to understand how cyber attacks unfold in order to improve threat assessment and mitigation skills. It makes sense to start thinking about what kinds of certifications are required by an employer, or what kinds of certifications make job applicants competitive within the field.

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Overall employment of cybersecurity specialists is expected to increase by 35% from 2021 to 2031 according to the BLS. Tech companies and information services are some of the highest paying industries for cybersecurity specialists. Some cybersecurity specialists are self-employed consultants who offer solutions for many different companies on a more temporary basis. And here we are in 2022, and not only has the Forbes prediction come true, but the situation is also getting worse. A cyber security engineer designs and implements secure network solutions designed to defend against hackers, cyberattacks, and other persistent threats. They also engage in continually testing and monitoring these systems, making sure that all the system’s defenses are up to date and working correctly.

  • Hiring businesses are looking for a mix of education, certifications and hands-on industry experience.
  • Cybersecurity specialists design and enforce various security standards, policies, and procedures for enterprise systems.
  • The certification, which CompTIA administers, also shows that holders understand risk and compliance regulations.
  • The ability to simplify complex topics and present them in a simple and/or visual manner is vital.