Become an IT Security Specialist Learning Path LinkedIn Learning, formerly Lynda com

Security certification is often required for advancement, and can help candidates boost their resumes and stand out in the job market. With these credentials, security professionals validate and even improve their ability to implement best practices as security specialists, paving the way to more expertise and job opportunities. IT security specialists and cybersecurity specialists perform similar jobs.

how to become it security specialist

Learn more about the responsibilities, duties, and daily tasks of security specialists and how they make a difference in their companies. Some experts say the fields of cybersecurity, network security, information security and infrastructure security are all different. Others consider these cybersecurity careers to exist under the same umbrella of computer security.

Security Specialist Jobs By Company

We have been thinking deeply about the societal implications and will have more analysis to share soon. The college background of security specialists generally involves criminal justice and business, while a small population of security specialists study general studies and psychology. According to BLS data, computer and information research scientists — positions typically requiring candidates to hold a master’s degree — maintained a median salary of $131,490 in 2021.

BLS data from May 2021 for the computer and information technology occupations showed a median national salary of $97,430, more than $50,000 higher than $45,760, the national median salary across all occupations. Learn about how to become one, education requirements, job duties, traits and qualities, national salary outlook as well as top national employers of IT Security Specialists. With this intermediate security credential from (ISC)², you can show employers that you have the skills to design, implement, and monitor a secure IT infrastructure. The exam tests expertise in access controls, risk identification and analysis, security administration, incident response, cryptography, and network, communications, systems, and application security. If you’re just getting started in information technology (IT), CompTIA recommends that you get your a+_ cyber Specialization first.

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Network security professionals use firewalls, physical hardware and education efforts to safeguard against intrusions and retain lost data. Review professional expectations, median salaries, typical responsibilities, and required skills for security specialists. The security specialist role best suits people who enjoy new challenges and want to protect data. Organizations hire security specialists to prevent security https://remotemode.net/ breaches, which involves identifying any system weaknesses that a cyber criminal might exploit. A security specialist should also research evolving risks (new methods that cyber criminals employ) and implement changes that take all known risks into account. In today’s era of ever-escalating cyber attacks, organizations need to have security measures in place that will protect their sensitive data and systems.

Cisco, CompTIA, CISSP, and CEH are some of the certs that may be required by your employer to be qualified for a role. Cybersecurity specialists protect sensitive data and analyze vulnerable spots in company networks. These professionals detect and analyze potential threats, evaluate risks, and respond to security incidents. Job titles include network defender, incident responder, and security administrator. Cybersecurity specialists need to be comfortable in a world that is constantly moving and shifting.

“It doesn’t matter how many times you have failed, you only have to be right once.” – Mark Cuban

Aspiring security specialists should gain as much experience as possible in using SIEM, programming languages, firewalls, and threat protection software. A strong foundation of education, combined with internships and professional experience, set how to become a security specialist candidates up for success. Qualified cybersecurity specialists need a strong foundation of soft and hard skills to complete their daily tasks. Some of those skills include communication, collaboration, malware prevention, and computer forensics.

And while it’s important to have fluency in programming languages and experience with UNIX-, Linux-, and Windows-based systems, it’s even more important to have a bachelor’s degree to be qualified for this job. The employment of information security analysts, which includes cybersecurity specialists, is predicted to grow 36 percent by 2024, much faster than the average for all occupations. IT security specialists can opt for a degree in computer science, cyber security and information assurance, or network operations and security.