Finally, holding the position of security specialist might require helping co-workers adopt new technologies and security software as it develops. However, most people are reluctant to change, especially if it requires learning a new operating procedure or workflow. So the ability to articulate the reason for the change and the ability to relate to co-workers’ needs and objections is also important. There are several network-oriented professional cybersecurity organizations and groups that are specifically designed to alert members about job openings and professional development opportunities. Information technology security specialists take home a median annual wage of $112,000, according to the latest salary data from the U.S.

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Certifications like CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+), PenTest+ and Project+ can prove you have the skills to take your cybersecurity career to the next level. Use this Cyber Security Specialist job description to advertise your vacancies and find qualified candidates. It’s a good idea to let your employer know about your plans to study, as they might be willing to help with the funding. After all, the knowledge and skills you gain will benefit your career and, in turn, the organization. Matt Whittle has experience writing and editing accessible education-related content in health, technology, nursing and business subjects.

• But being a key component of a company’s information technology needs can be a rewarding responsibility.
• The good news is, the job outlook for IT security specialists is exceptionally strong—and only getting better.
• Like most other careers in cybersecurity, it’ll be a great start to earn your degree relating to the cybersecurity specialist category and then get industry certifications, clearances, and practical experience.
• It’s a good idea to let your employer know about your plans to study, as they might be willing to help with the funding.
• Cybersecurity specialists handle a broad set of technical responsibilities related to safeguarding sensitive digital information and data.

They will be able to clarify which items a company deems necessary, preferred, or desirable. As a security specialist, you will spend your days studying the devices in use and testing security measures like firewalls and other software. This role also involves reporting to more senior members of the IT team and presenting any findings and recommendations. Security specialists also collaborate with other departments to ensure that colleagues are aware of how to practice good IT security. A security specialist, also known as an IT security specialist or a cyber security specialist, is responsible for developing and implementing security measures for an organization.

IT Security Specialist Jobs

They make sure that the systems perform the way they are supposed to, and that they are safe from attack. This list of the top 50 cybersecurity networking groups and professional organizations from Digital Guardian is a good place to start. It makes sense to start thinking about what kinds of certifications are required by an employer, or what kinds of certifications make job applicants competitive within the field. “Security is the only area of certified IT skills that has never had a negative quarter throughout this recession,” says David Foote, CEO and Chief Research Officer of leading research firm Foote Partners. “We’ve never had three months with a loss or decline in premiums for IT security specialists.” Adding certifications like CompTIA Advanced Security Practitioner (CASP+) can validate your skills in the cybersecurity field and prepare you for a more advanced role within your organization.

Another aspect of a cybersecurity specialist’s job is the design of firewalls and other security measures to make sure that information and proprietary networks are compliant with the most recent security standards. Security+ is a CompTIA certification that is considered a basic cert among cybersecurity professionals. One of the primary responsibilities of a cybersecurity specialist is to keep tabs on the systems employed by their organization and report any issues to management. They are also responsible for anticipating future threats and advising on how to deal with them.

How to become an IT security specialist in 2024

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.

The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) is a more advanced certification designed for cybersecurity professionals with at least five years of work experience. A simple way of thinking about a cybersecurity specialist is someone who keeps tabs on a company’s or organization’s security while also helping other employees and teammates stay current on best practices. Refer to the salary section below to find out which companies pay particularly well for security specialist roles. Organizations hire security specialists to prevent security 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.

Requirements and skills

This role is critical because oftentimes data breaches come from inside the organization, either intentionally or accidentally. Welcome to IT Career Finder, a website designed to help IT pros advance their careers. Working closely with IT professionals, world-class trainers, and hiring managers cybersecurity specialist program since 2005 has given him unique insight into the information technology job market and the skills and credentials IT pros need to succeed. Validate skills in various cybersecurity areas, including offensive operations, cyber defense, cloud security, industrial control systems and more.

Cyber security jobs of all sorts are becoming increasingly crucial in the digital age. From a specialist to an analyst to the IT security director, there are many jobs that focus on network security and all of these positions are vital for information security success. As a result, cyber security jobs have only grown in importance and demand—especially with the growth of ransomware attacks and data breaches that expose sensitive information. The outlook for cybersecurity specialists is very positive due to the increasing reliance on technology and the growing threat of cyber attacks.

Featured Cybersecurity Training

In all professions, networking offers a reliable pathway to finding job opportunities. In addition to connecting with your co-workers, consider joining a professional organization. Information security shares some overlap with cybersecurity—in fact, cybersecurity is a subset of information security. However, cybersecurity focuses exclusively on protecting digital assets, while information security covers digital and physical information across all mediums. That often means that continuing education is required — both in the form of formal, industry-recognized certifications —  and the form of informal learning and tracking industry developments.

Over the next few years, you can continue your education, such as by studying for an online Master’s degree in cyber security or one or more of the above certificates. Cybersecurity specialists handle a broad set of technical responsibilities related to safeguarding sensitive digital information and data. Depending on the size of their employer, these cybersecurity experts may work in niche, specialized areas of the field or oversee more general security tasks. They provide ongoing oversight for organizations’ cybersecurity efforts through several methods. A cybersecurity specialist is a professional who is responsible for protecting computer systems, networks, and data from unauthorized access, theft, or damage. They work to prevent cyber attacks, detect security breaches, and respond to security incidents.

IT Security Specialist Career Path

At the app level, infrastructure security professionals develop and deploy effective databases to prevent access by bad actors. For data, this field protects information by building structures for backups and encryption. Payscale reports an average annual cybersecurity salary of around $97,000, and these wages typically increase with experience.

Perfect for learners in third grade all the way up to adults who want to master college-level coding concepts. Our custom code engine and interpreter is designed for beginners, teaching true Python, JavaScript, and C++ programming languages using human, beginner-friendly terms. This platform supports over 25 different programming languages and gives players the opportunity to practice, learn, and compete in coding contests. C# is also known for having a huge collection of libraries and frameworks. C++ is ideal for managing resource-heavy applications, like web browsers, operating systems, desktop apps, cloud computing, and even video games. It’s used in a variety of industries, including VR, robotics, software and game development, and scientific computing.

Kickstart your career

The Command Line isn’t that useful if we can only stay in one location, so let’s learn how to browse through different directories in the file system. We can do this via the cd command, which stands for “Change Directory”. The contents (files and subfolders) that reside in the current directory are printed to the screen. If you’re running an operating system without a GUI (Graphical User Interface), like Linux or Unix, you should be at the Command Line by default when you start the computer. If your flavor of Linux or Unix does have a GUI, you’ll need to open the terminal manually.

If you want to get into front-end web development, then you have to learn HTML. We will begin by defining what coding is and why you should learn it. After this, we will move into a step-by-step guide to coding for dummies. We will look at some of the most popular coding languages, along with a few online coding https://deveducation.com/en/courses/ courses that will help you learn these languages. Great examples of what I’m talking about would be the DataCamp Python Fundamentals or the Udemy Python programming courses. Here’s an example of the README for Codecademy Docs, our open-contribution documentation for popular programming languages and frameworks.

How To Code For Beginners: All You Need to Know

The benefit of this setup is that it allows bytecode compiled on particular operating systems and platforms to be executed by a JVM on any other platform. Once you get comfortable with your JavaScript skills, you can try building some of these fun beginner-friendly projects to practice. Usually, CSS styles are created in separate files (.css files) from the HTML. This means we need some way to import them into our HTML files so the browser knows that the styles exist. Each style property tells the browser to render the desired effect on the screen.

GitHub is a programming resource popularly used for code sharing. GitHub provides the opportunity to work with a team on projects. There were many source codes available from different languages on GitHub. GitHub is helping millions of people in upskilling and increasing their performance in coding. Coding is the process of designing and building executable programs to perform specific tasks. It also helps to communicate with the computer by passing the instructions and providing tasks using binary codes.

Trending Programming Languages

Problems that might seem easy at first will end up being far more complex to implement than you expected. You might spend hours hacking away at an assignment without seeing results. While this language is easy to read and write, it may not be the best choice for your first programming language. This is because it’s also quite flexible, which means that it easily accepts changes. Java is popularly implemented in android mobile applications.

A wrong approach may make you believe that coding is pretty challenging to learn, while the right strategy simplifies coding for you. The function above returns the variable total after adding the two input arguments. The for loop repeats a code block for a certain number of times.

From here you can move onto building your first few projects using SQL. In this freeCodeCamp YouTube Course, you will learn programming basics such as lists, conditionals, strings, tuples, functions, classes and more. Our programs can interact with databases in real-time as events transpire in our application. To do this, most databases speak a language called SQL, short for Structured Query Language. Git forms the core of popular web-based VCS platforms like GitHub and Bitbucket.

• The Command Line isn’t that useful if we can only stay in one location, so let’s learn how to browse through different directories in the file system.
• With JavaScript, one can work on multiple platforms and browsers.
• If you are new to SQL, there is a detailed walk through for beginners.