Organizations today are facing an overwhelming wave of cybercrime. The fast rate of digital transformation, growth of the Internet of Things (IoT), rapid increase of remote work, and poor cybersecurity practices have made organizations of all types vulnerable to cyberattacks. However, nothing puts an organization at risk of experiencing cybercrime more than the lack of in-house cybersecurity professionals, including cybersecurity engineers.
Have you ever asked yourself, “What is cybersecurity?” or “what is a cybersecurity engineer?” If so, you’ll find everything you need to know below.
What is a cybersecurity engineer? The definition
Cybersecurity engineers are IT professionals who defend organizations from intruders and the havoc they cause. As a cybersecurity engineer, you will help prevent data breaches by creating, implementing, and monitoring security systems and features. The security measures you will take and the solutions you will design, launch, and maintain prevent unauthorized users from accessing sensitive data, making cybersecurity engineers invaluable to organizations.
Roles and responsibilities of a cybersecurity engineer
Cybersecurity engineers have many duties that go beyond creating, implementing, and monitoring defensive security systems and features. Other tasks a cybersecurity engineer is responsible for include:
- Creating solutions for pre-existing security issues
- Defining, implementing, and enforcing corporate security policies and best practices
- Configuring and installing firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDS)
- Promptly responding to data security crises
- Overseeing any changes in facilities, software, hardware, user needs, and telecommunications
- Performing penetration testing
- Conducting network maintenance
- Providing information assurance
Cybersecurity engineers also act as consultants within an organization and are responsible for suggesting specific modifications in any area that affects IT security. Some examples include technical, legal, and regulatory areas.
Essential skills and qualifications for a cybersecurity engineer
Succeeding in a cybersecurity engineering role isn’t possible without targeted skills and qualifications. The technical skills you’ll need as a cybersecurity engineer are related to:
- Firewall installation
- Incident response
- Programming languages like Python
- Intrusion detection/prevention protocols
- Coding and threat modeling
- Knowledge of computer networks and network solutions
- Identity and access management
- Cryptography
- Windows, Linux, and UNIX operating systems
- Virtualization technologies
- Security testing methodologies like penetration testing
- Software engineering
- MySQL and MSSQL database platforms
- Systems engineering
- Encryption and application security technologies
- Secure network architectures
- Subnetting
- Computer programming
- Domain name server (DNS)
- Encryption technologies and standards
- Network routing methods like virtual private networks (VPNs), virtual LANs (VLANs), and voice over IP (VoIP)
- TCP/IP, user datagram protocol (UDP), IP security (IPSec), HTTP, HTTPS, routing protocols and other network and web-related protocols
- Phishing, advanced persistent threats (APT), and social engineering
- Network access controllers (NAC)
- Gateway anti-malware
- Enhanced authentication
Also, although cybersecurity engineers are not ethical hackers, understanding the fundamentals of ethical hacking can help you effectively test the security solutions you create. This enables cybersecurity engineers to decrease the vulnerabilities of networks and computer systems.
Cybersecurity engineers also need soft skills, especially communication, analytical and problem-solving skills. However, cybersecurity engineers don’t come by these skills easily. These skills are gleaned through cybersecurity degrees, work experience, and cybersecurity certifications.
Most employers require cybersecurity engineers to have a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity or a related field. Other acceptable subjects include computer science, mathematics, engineering, or information security. A master’s degree in an appropriate subject can open more job opportunities and unlock better salaries for cybersecurity professionals.
Job description and responsibilities
Not every employer writes the same job description for cybersecurity engineers. However, most job descriptions for these IT pros share commonalities. They often call for most or all the skills listed earlier.
A cybersecurity engineer’s job description also entails overseeing an organization’s most crucial digital systems and information technology (IT) infrastructure and working to protect key platforms, including critical applications, data storage, and networks that underpin all digital activity. If you’re applying for cybersecurity roles, including cybersecurity engineer jobs, don’t be discouraged if you don’t meet an employer’s educational requirements. Employers sometimes waive educational requirements for candidates with significant work experience and relevant IT skills and certifications.
For example, a cybersecurity engineering job description may call for a master’s degree. If you only have a bachelor’s degree, you should consider applying if you have several years of experience, cybersecurity certifications, and expertise in the field.
Career path and advancement
A cybersecurity engineer's career path and advancement can vary, but you can typically begin your cybersecurity career while earning a security-focused degree. It’s common to start out at the help desk as time allows and participate in a cybersecurity-related or cybersecurity engineering internship.
Once you’ve earned a suitable degree, worked an entry-level IT job, and completed an internship in cybersecurity, you’ll be ready to step into your first full-time job role. Common roles for future cybersecurity engineers include penetration tester, cybersecurity analyst, and cybersecurity architect.
To secure a job as a cybersecurity engineer, you’ll typically need at least 3 years of experience in an entry-level IT job role. Once you have your education, work and internship experience, and cybersecurity certifications, you can start applying for cybersecurity engineer jobs.
Salary and job outlook for a cybersecurity engineer
The job outlook and average salary for cybersecurity engineers are top-notch. There is a startling shortage of cybersecurity professionals in the United States. In addition to other cybersecurity professionals, cybersecurity engineers are in high demand.
According to CompTIA's State of the Tech Workforce, employment for cybersecurity analysts and engineers is expected to grow 30% between 2024 and 2034. This is a much faster growth rate than the average for all occupations.
The cybersecurity engineer's salary is as exciting as the job outlook. CompTIA's IT Salary Calculator shows that the annual median salary for cybersecurity specialists and engineers is $120,360.
The job outlook and the average salary of cybersecurity engineers make this a great role for individuals wishing to build a cybersecurity career and earn a high wage.
6 tips to become a cybersecurity engineer
Are you wondering how to become a cybersecurity engineer? If it’s what you want and you are willing to work to reach your goals, you can have a career as a cybersecurity engineer. These tips will help you get there.
1. Complete a degree program. Most cybersecurity engineer job descriptions require a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in computer science, information technology, cybersecurity, or a similar topic. Enrolling in one of the many degree programs designed for data security professionals is the first step to becoming a cybersecurity engineer.
2. Work while you’re in school. Many IT pros enrolled in a degree program are already working full-time jobs that are not related to IT. These individuals may not have time to work an IT job on the side, but if you can, start getting IT work experience as you earn your degree. The help desk is an ideal place to start.
3. Complete an internship. Internships look great on a resume. Security-focused internships will appeal to employers, so try to complete at least one cybersecurity or cybersecurity engineering internship. Internships afford the perfect opportunity to find answers to the question, “What is a cybersecurity engineer?” and help you figure out if cybersecurity engineering is really what you want to do.
4. Get certified. Earning cybersecurity certifications can’t be overemphasized. Two of the best vendor-neutral cybersecurity certifications you can earn are CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) and CompTIA SecurityX (formerly CASP+).
CompTIA CySA+ can help cybersecurity professionals responsible for incident detection, prevention, and response broaden their skill sets and stand out in cybersecurity. It covers security operations, incident response and management, vulnerability management, and reporting and communication.
SecurityX is an advanced cybersecurity certification. It was designed for security architects and senior security engineers tasked with leading and improving an organization’s cybersecurity readiness. The certification covers security architecture, governance, risk and compliance, security operations, security engineering, and cryptography.
The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) is another vendor-neutral cybersecurity certification. It covers disaster recovery planning, management practices, cryptography, and network security.
5. Be patient. The path to becoming a cybersecurity engineer isn’t short. It takes time. When you land your first entry-level job with a security focus, stay there for at least a few years. You can certainly apply for cybersecurity engineer jobs before you have the amount of experience a job description requires. However, most IT pros will need at least 3 years of experience before getting hired as a cybersecurity engineer.
6. Commit to ongoing learning. Cybersecurity engineers must be committed to continuous learning because cybersecurity is an evolving field. There is always something new to learn. Cybersecurity engineers must seek out training opportunities, certifications, boot camps, workshops, and independent study.
Cybersecurity engineer vs. other cybersecurity roles
A cybersecurity engineer is just one of the key players on an organization’s data security team. They are sometimes called information security engineers, data security engineers, or IT security engineers.
There are several other cybersecurity professionals with whom cybersecurity engineers routinely work. They include but are not limited to:
- Security managers
- Cybersecurity analysts
- Security architects
- Cybersecurity specialists
Cybersecurity engineers share tasks and responsibilities with some of these cybersecurity professionals. However, their role is unique in that they engineer software systems and security features that defend organizations from hackers. This is their specialty; no data security team is complete without them.
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