Most famous Cyber Security & Ethical Hacking Job positions, salaries, and degrees required
Introduction:
In the recent 10 years, the demand for IT fields and more specifically the Cyber Security specialists has increased greatly, as the tech field has a rapid and continuous development since ever, the need for companies for having a solid and well experienced Cyber-Security staff has become an essential demand.
In 2021 the number of unfilled Cyber Security opportunities predictions has rocketed up to 3,5 million job positions in comparison to one million in 2014, and it's believed to the world to witness alike growth by 2025.
Therefore, in this article, we are going to cover the most famous Cyber Security & Ethical Hacking work fields, the salaries, and what educational path it requires to reach there...
Why there is such a big demand for Ethical-Hacking?
The answer to this question is simple, as mentioned the world is witnessing huge and rapid development in the IT infrastructure and technologies, and most of the developed countries are trying to lift up their IT fields and techs during this IT world race to have the upper hand technologically, as well to take things to the next level when it comes to making it all available to people while they are sitting on their couch, from online banking, payment to finishing governmental and essential documents fast and effortlessly, thus the dependence on the internet, new techs and software is leveling up each year, and all that comes along with the risk formed by those cybercriminal, so the demand on cyber security jobs are rising to stand against the cyber crimes, and minimize the risk as much as possible.
Most notorious high-demanded Cyber-Security jobs and work fields:
Network Engineer:
The Network Engineer is the one responsible for setting up the computers' networks, maintaining them, and everything related to networking within that network. The main roles of the network engineer are:
- Installing and configuring the network
- Configuring and supporting network equipment
- Maintaining the network and the traffic within it
- Providing solutions for network flaws and misfunctions
- Setting up Software & Hardware, and creating system backups
- Applying regular network troubleshooting
- Setting up and configuring firewalls, switches, and routers
The Network Engineering path is also divided into smaller paths each plays a specific role in establishing and monitoring the network of the firm, some of the paths to mention:
- Network Manager
- Network Administrator
- Network Technician
- Network Analyst
- Network Security Engineer
What's the role difference between Network Engineer and Network Administrator?
Though both the Network Engineer and the Network Administrator have the same main job in a shallow view, their main role differs on some points, as the Network Engineer does the development work of the physical and wireless network, the Network Administrator's role is to maintain the Network after the development phase.
The second point of role difference is that the Network Engineer is responsible for the troubleshooting work and flaws capturing within the network, the Network Administrator here does the implementation of the security software using programs or Hardware devices.
What does it take to become a Network Engineer?
For sure when it comes to landing jobs, the experience and the kills are the big bosses, though still obtaining certificates related to the networking fields are crucial and taken into account when reviewing your application for the job position, thus here are the most notorious networking certificates to consider as a Network Engineer to be...
- CISCO Certified Network Associate (CCNA):
One of the most notorious certificates not only for Network Engineering but for the Cyber Security field in general, it covers plenty of networking basics and advanced topics like networks, connections, devices communication, IP Addresses, routers, switches, and many others...
- Juniper Networks Certified Associate Junos (JNCIA-JUNOS):
A certificate for Network professionals with intermediate and beginner knowledge of networking offered by JUNIPER Networks.
The exam fee is $200 and demands no prerequisites.
- SolarWinds Certified Professional:
A Networking certificate that informs you of the fundamentals and the advanced knowledge on using & maintaining SolarWinds network and systems management products efficiently.
The exam fee is $200 and demands no prerequisites.
- CompTIA Network+:
The certificate holder is efficiently able to establish, maintain and troubleshoot the essential networks the firms rely on.
It validates the knowledge of network professionals on critical security concepts, key cloud computing best practices, and typical services models, covering the newer Hardware and virtualization techniques tec...
The exam fee is $348 and demands no prerequisites.
- Aruba Certified Mobility Associate (ACMA):
Networking certificates that will validate your knowledge and sharpen the skills required to design, set up, and configure a basic Aruba Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN).
The exam costs $230, and the candidate must pass the ACMA exam on a PearsonVUE in order to take the professional exam as a prerequisite.
- VMWare Certified Technical Associate - Network Virtualization (VCTA-NV):
It gives the knowledge on identifying the use cases and business needs for the VMWare NSX platform, understanding NSX terminology and performing navigation of NSX graphical user interfaces, explaining SDDC and network virtualization concepts, and many more concepts...
The exam fee is $125 and demands no prerequisites.
The salary of the Network Engineer:
As a network engineer, you should expect a salary ranging between $56K to $175K and an average salary of $81K and a $98k in the US.
Information Security Analyst:
The Information Security Analyst is the dude responsible for the firm's data privacy, which includes the passwords, emails, usernames, and other confidential data and prevents them from being reached by any unauthorized personnel, and maintains the access to these data by the authorized people.
What are the main roles of an Information Security Analyst?
-Protect sensitive information:
The main role of the Information Security Analyst is to protect the confidential data, keep its privacy and prevent and leak of this data that can result in a real Cyber-Threat to the firm.
-Coming up with plans to prevent Cyber-Attacks:
The second main role is finding solutions to the Cyber flaws in the systems that threaten the privacy of the data, and coming up with plans to block those holes in the security wall, to keep the data safe from any illegal and unauthorized reach.
-Ensure compliance policies and perform compliance control testing:
Compliance testing is simply testing the internal control systems (ICS) for each subsystem of the client, to check whether the control risk is high, medium, or low, to helping to find deviations in the firm's prescribed standards, and make sure that it follows the right protocols and standards for its software/s.
-Monitor data access:
Monitor the data & data flow in the firm, and make sure on maintaining access to it at any time when needed by the authorized persons.
What does it take to become an Information Security Analyst?
To land a good job in the Information Security Analyst field it's preferred to have a certificate in a Computer Science related field, though that doesn't mean it's the main factor of succeeding in finding a job as a Security Analyst, so here are some of the main skills you need to take into account when it comes to this field...
-Computer security fundamentals:
As previously mentioned, as an ISA you need to be able to work with data, networks, and so on, therefore a decent knowledge of computing and information security is an essential factor, that includes having a sharp knowledge of Networks, Pen-Testing, Data risk management, firewalls, ability to work with different frameworks efficiently, security infrastructure and so on.
-Knowledge of the data privacy laws in the regions:
Good knowledge of the local data privacy laws is required in order to work as an ISA for a firm, in order to know well where are the flaws in the firm's standards and protocols followed, and how to correctly fix them and evaluate the company's policies.
-Teamwork:
As an ISA you will need to be able to work in a team for finding security solutions, as well as making connections and communications outside the company by having security & privacy collaborations.
-A Cyber-Security degree:
Last but not least, even if you don't have a degree in Computer Science, you still need a degree in a Cyber-Security related field, two to mention here:
-C|EH (Certified Ethical Hacker)
As a bonus, if you'd like to enroll in a course to be introduced directly to the Information Security Analyses field, you can check the IBM Cyber-Security Analyst Professional Certificate.
The salary of an Information Security Analyst:
As an Information Security Analyst you should expect a salary ranging between $38K to $283K and an average salary of $82K and a $103K in the US.
Ethical Hacker (Penetration Tester):
The Ethical Hacker or the Penetration Tester is basically the typical Hacking role known by the public.
The Pen-Tester is responsible for testing the security of the firm, finding the flaws, and coming up with solutions to block them, in other words, their role is to hack the company, though "Ethically".
The main tasks required from an Ethical Hackers are:
-Identifying and exploiting vulnerabilities:
It's the major role of the Ethical Hacker, to identify and exploit the vulnerabilities and the flaws in the system that can be exploited by Hackers, find solutions to block them, and prevent any leak of the firm's confidential data.
-Probe and test the network:
Another crucial role that the pen-tester plays is testing and probing the network, by scanning the data flaw security in the local network of the company, doing port scans, testing the efficiency of the firewalls, and so on.
-Design new penetration tools to test results:
A professional Ethical Hacker doesn't only rely on ready-made software and scripts to launch the security tests and vulnerabilities capturing processes, but writes their own scripts and creates software to automate or do a specific task, or even to work on big security research and projects, thus it's required that the Ethical Hacker to be able to write their own scripts and software efficiently.
What does it take to become an Ethical Hacker (Pen-Tester)?
There are many mighty and notorious certificates when it comes to Ethical Hacking, sitting at the peak the notorious CISSP, there are many other Cyber-Security certificates that will give you the needed knowledge to kick off, and reach the pro level in the Ethical Hacking, among to mention:
-CEH (Certified Ethical Hacker)
-GCIA (Certified Intrusion Analyst)
-CISA (Certified Information Security Auditor)
-GSEC (Security Essentials Certified)
For more in-depth information on how to become an Ethical Hacker (Cyber-Sec Professional), check out the A-Z guide on How To Become A Hacker.
The salary of the Ethical Hacker (Pen-Tester):
As an Ethical Hacker "pen-Tester" you should expect a salary ranging between $65K to $204K and an average salary of $92K and a $115K in the US.
Security Architect:
The Security Architect position is a tough one and requires experience in several aspects, such as cloud techs, leadership, security research, and many others.
Among the Sec-Architect duties there are:
-Researching and planning the security elements of the firm.
-Designing security structures that are capable of preventing security threats and stopping malware cyber-attacks.
-Approving the installation of routers, firewalls, VPNs, etc...
-Formulating the firm's procedures, guidelines, and user guides.
-Researching new technologies to uplift the security of the systems.
-Discovering the impact and the risks to the security architectures.
How to become a Security Architect?
The Security Architect isn't no basic level kind of job, but among the heavy ones, therefore, a bachelor's degree in Computer Science related field is required, plus any certificates of the notorious Cyber-Security certificates will be a good addition to the resume, as well as to the experience and the skills.
The essential skills required for being a Security Architect are :
-Networking:
As previously mentioned, the Security Architect is responsible for approving the installation of routers, firewalls, VPNs, and many other networking elements, adding to it their major role in building networks and maintaining them and the data flow through these networks, thus a sharp knowledge in networking with the wide experience and the decent networking skills are essentials.
-Management and risk management skills:
Besides building a solid security architecture, it's required for a Security Architect to have high management & risk management skills, for projects managing and efficiently dealing with the security flaws in the architectures built and tested.
-Leadership:
Yes, being a leader is essential when it comes to the Security Architect position, it's required to be capable of leading security projects and analyses, making decisions, and coming up with security solutions with the team you are working with.
-Malware knowledge:
In order to build and maintain networks, as well as design security architectures efficiently and keep them secured from Cyber-Threats, a decent knowledge of malware is required, to design architectures with solid security and build malware-immune networks.
The salary of the Security Architect:
As a Security Architect, you should expect a salary ranging between $76K to $323K and an average salary of $134K and a $156K in the US.
Chief Information Security Officer:
The Chief Information Security Officer plays a senior role in the firm, they are specialized people with great skills and knowledge in IT, management, and wide experience in leadership and risk management.
The CISO job position isn't a get at table kind of job, but a one that requires big skills and experience due to the role the CISO people work in the organizations they work for.
Among the duty of the CISO we can find:
-Developing, Implementing, and maintaining information security and risk management programs.
-Interacting with the stakeholders and informing them briefly about the information security concerns.
-Assuring no reach to the confidential data and systems is permitted by anyone but the authorized people.
-Using and setting the required software and programs to maintain high security of the data.
-Assuring to keep the network and the projects work updated without forming vulnerabilities.
-Deciding on which IT experts to hire and manage them.
-Making sure of the effectiveness of the network and IT structures design.
-Keeping the data safe from any leak by an external or internal source.
How to become a Chief Information Security Officer?
As mentioned previously, becoming a CISO isn't that piece of cake thing, taking into account the experience and the skills this job requires, though still, it's more than possible if the time, effort, and patience required are put...
Some of the most essential skills for a CISO to take into account are...
-Risk and compliance management:
Risk management is an essential skill for a CISO, due to the roles they play in maintaining the security and the privacy of the data, and standing against any urgent & out of the blue breach or Cyber-Threat by preventing any damage or loss of confidential data and coming up with fast and effective solutions to block those security gaps.
-Leadership skills
-Communication skills:
Communication takes a decent part of the daily CISO work, starting from working with the team on various projects, to hiring IT specialists, therefore good communication skills are required for such a role.
-Understanding the local laws and legislation.
-IT and technical skills:
Developing and implementing security and risk management programs for sure requires a decent experience in the IT field, and dope information & data security skills, thus it's crucial having solid knowledge and a sharp experience in the security field.
-Certificates required?
Yes, for the CISO job position an IT bachelor's degree is an essential requirement, as well a master's degree in an IT or Cyber Security related field might be required, due to the essential need for the in-depth knowledge of the role the CISO will play.
Also, any of the famous Cyber Security and networking certificates will be a great addition to the knowledge, as well as to the resume, these certificates include the above-mentioned ones, and also many others we mentioned previously, you can check them here.
-The salary of the Chief Information Security Officer:
As a Security Architect, you should expect a salary ranging between $99K to $447K and an average salary of $168K and a $204K in the US.
Conclusion:
In general, the above-mentioned specializations are among the most well-known in the Cyber-Security field, though for sure there are many other decent job positions in the field which we will cover in the upcoming articles.
And in conclusion, there's no unimportant job, from the very small task jobs to the biggest and most difficult ones they are all crucial and each covers an essential aspect of the data securing process. And all put together to work smoothly is the key to the best security and privacy results for any organization, therefore, make up your mind on which Cyber-Security field you want to master, think about who you really want to be, go for it, and if the needed effort and time are put, no doubt you will get decent accomplishments both in experience and career.
Thanks For Reading!
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