Review professional expectations, median salaries, typical responsibilities, and required skills for security specialists. Networking is another critical part of how to become a cybersecurity specialist. Joining professional organizations, college groups, and online communities can help jumpstart a security specialist career.
According to a Burning Glass Technologies report, 46% of cybersecurity jobs require 3-5 years of experience. Candidates with a college degree may enjoy higher pay and more advancement potential. Employers may also view a degree as a sign of focus and discipline, core skills for security specialists. Security specialists implement how to become a security specialist cybersecurity measures that protect an organization’s computer networks and systems. Security specialists also secure data networks, intercept security breaches, and make changes to improve security. Internships and entry-level IT positions will help you gain hands-on experience with security tools and protocols.
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Travel may be required for some IT security consultants, particularly when visiting client locations in different cities or countries to provide on-site support, conduct security assessments, or deliver training sessions. Indeed.com employment search, companies like Prudential, Stearns Bank, The Walt Disney Company, Grant Thornton, and Farmers Insurance Group are all in need of IT security specialists. What’s more, multiple government agencies like the National Security Agency, U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission, and the U.S. Department of the Navy are also looking to recruit in this sought-after field. Infrastructure security covers the protection of physical and digital assets through the architecture itself. This specialty may focus on safeguarding sensitive items using structures like generators, security systems and locks.
We’re emailing you the app fee waiver code and other information about getting your degree from WGU. CASP+ is an advanced certification that validates critical thinking and judgment across a spectrum of security disciplines in complex environments. 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.
How do I become a cybersecurity specialist?
Explore programs of your interests with the high-quality standards and flexibility you need to take your career to the next level. Threats to online security closely shadow the history and development of the internet itself. Starting as early as the 1990s, simple antivirus software like the Reaper, created by Ray Tomlinson, became necessary to protect user’s online activity.
- Compensation varies according to experience, as well as geographical location, so the average salaries for some of the most popular U.S. tech hubs are listed in the chart below.
- With the amount of data being stored and communicated through computer systems and networks, as well as the advancement and popularity of the cloud, businesses must work to keep information secure.
- Cybersecurity specialists handle a broad set of technical responsibilities related to safeguarding sensitive digital information and data.
- CSIA offers an environment for an exchange of ideas between national security thought leaders.
- Security+ provides a global benchmark for best practices in IT network and operational security, one of the fastest-growing fields in IT.
- The demand for security specialists who can develop effective cybersecurity solutions continues to grow.
- Due to the industry’s evolving nature, security specialists’ responsibilities are complex and ever-changing.
These professionals also educate coworkers 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. According to Glassdoor.com, the national average salary for an IT security specialist is $69,123, based on a scale that checks in at $45,000 per year on the low end and up to $102,000 per year at the high end.
How do I start a cybersecurity job with no experience?
Security specialist salary prospects improve as employees gain more specialized skills in areas like risk management, security information and event management, cybersecurity, and security testing and auditing. Cybersecurity specialists play a key role in securing information systems. By monitoring, detecting, investigating, analyzing, and responding to security events, cybersecurity specialists protect systems from cybersecurity risks, threats, and vulnerabilities. Most IT security jobs require at least a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity, information assurance, or a related field; these programs typically take four years to complete as a full-time student.