November 2023

In fact, cybercrime is forecasted to amount to $10.5 trillion by 2025 — which is just a few short years away. Combine this upward growth in the industry with the zero percent unemployment rate, and the result is a white-hot job market that features six-figure salaries. When you’re first starting out in the IT security career, there is a high chance you will find employment in this position.

There are a variety of skills needed to thrive in a cybersecurity specialist position. Among them are intrusion detection, malware analysis and mitigation, programming knowledge and cloud security analysis. The average salary of a cybersecurity specialist is $99,652, according to Cyberseek.org.

Your Career Path in Cybersecurity

In contrast, network security focuses on vulnerabilities in the connections between devices. These professionals also educate co-workers on best practices, as breaches may occur accidentally or deliberately by bad actors within their companies. Cybersecurity specialists must remain up to date with changes in the field by researching emerging threats and fixes.

It covers attacks, threats and vulnerabilities, operations and incident response and architecture and design. Other topics that are covered include cybersecurity specialist program implementation and governance, risk and compliance. Network security professionals work within a narrower scope than cybersecurity workers.

What Is a Cybersecurity Specialist?

Cybersecurity specialists are also known as information technology specialists, operations specialists, information security specialists and security specialists. The term applies to a skill set that a variety of cybersecurity professionals use to prevent cyberattacks and mitigate data breaches. Some of these roles include but are not limited to security administrator, systems administrator and security analyst. In general, cybersecurity specialists are often required to have several years of experience in a cybersecurity-focused job.

This guide offers information on how to become a cybersecurity analyst, along with details on other cybersecurity roles such as information security specialist. If you’re wondering how to get into cybersecurity, read on to explore salaries, job outlooks and available certifications in the field. A cybersecurity specialist works on the front lines and behind the scenes to protect digital systems and assets from hackers, threats and vulnerabilities. Career opportunities for current and aspiring cybersecurity specialists have never been more plentiful or lucrative.

Job Description

This specialty may focus on safeguarding sensitive items using structures like generators, security systems and locks. Digitally, infrastructure security refers to creating and maintaining protected systems from breaches. Forbes Advisor’s education editors are committed to producing unbiased rankings and informative articles covering online colleges, tech bootcamps and career paths.

In terms of seniority, a security architect is typically above a security engineer. The architects offer recommendations based on their assessment of security vulnerabilities, and the engineers put these recommendations into practice. This can take the form of other, related work experience, or it can take the form of a structured internship or other formal hands-on learning. Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) applies behavioral analytics to the IT security field to improve the overall state of IT security. The table below lists the domains measured by the full examination and the extent to which they are represented. Certifications like ITF+, CompTIA A+ and Network+ give you the background you need if you don’t already have it, and CompTIA Security+ is recommended to begin your career as a Cybersecurity Professional.

Your career path

In terms of skills, experience, and general mindset, a cybersecurity specialist needs to be like a Swiss Army knife of the digital world. A person in this role needs to be multi-disciplinary and adaptable to a wide variety of situations. They are responsible for making sure that networks and computer systems are up-to-date and not vulnerable to software bugs. They typically work in mediumor large-sized private companies and public institutions.

However, there is a wide variety of other positions a specialist can advance to as they continue learning and honing their skills. As the name suggests, cybersecurity specialists are all about protecting digital information. This can be anything from encrypting personal information on social media so no one can harvest it to making sure entire information systems are malware-, virus-, and hacker-proof.

The more cybersecurity certifications they earn, the more job opportunities will open to them. Sometimes, IT professionals work in IT networking, systems engineering, security intelligence and financial and risk analysis prior to moving into a cybersecurity specialist role. The outlook for cybersecurity specialists is very positive due to the increasing reliance on technology and the growing threat of cyber attacks. As organizations continue to invest in cybersecurity to protect their data and systems, the demand for skilled cybersecurity professionals is expected to continue to increase in the years to come. Second, the growing sophistication of cyberattacks means that organizations need more skilled cybersecurity professionals to protect themselves. Third, the global shortage of cybersecurity workers is expected to continue, which will drive up wages and salaries for cybersecurity specialists.

• Most cybersecurity specialist job descriptions require a candidate to have several years of experience in a data security role.
• According to ZipRecruiter, the cyber security specialist annual base salary is $111,052  in the US, and Glassdoor lists the annual salary as $103,746 per year.
• In order to qualify for the federal examination, you must have at least two years of professional experience in the field of IT / Information Security field before the exam date.
• Pretty much all cybersecurity positions are well-paid, so it will be just a matter of personal preference what you decide to pursue.

Before pursuing CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+), IT professionals should have CompTIA Network+ and CompTIA Security+, plus at least 4 years of hands-on experience working in an information security role. Examples include incident response analyst or security operations center (SOC) analyst. Infrastructure security covers the protection of physical and digital assets through the architecture itself.

Cybersecurity specialists are IT professionals that are responsible for protecting the data and complete IT infrastructure of organizations. They are experts at detecting cyber threats and implementing data-saving security measures. These technicians also create and enforce security policies, carry out threat and risk analyses and perform vulnerability assessments. A cybersecurity specialist might wear many hats depending on the size and shape of his or her company or organization. As the job title implies, cybersecurity specialists are expected to have a certain level of training and expertise that allows them to give advice and training on the latest digital best practices.