As you can tell from the job description above, a security analyst’s work revolves around a lot of areas. It’s not strictly restricted towards only the technical stuff. Rather it includes administrative tasks as well as some soft social skills and interactions. Therefore, the requirements for this job are also quite diverse.
You will need a combination of the right skills, the proper education, and the relevant experience. All of these will equip you with the expertise necessary for you to not only get this job but also perform well on this job.
Moreover, as time goes by, the requirements, expected skillset, and technologies will like change. Therefore, it’s imperative that cybersecurity analysts work to continuously improve their skills and knowledge.
Skills
The precise skills will vary from company to company, as each organization will have its own requirements. However, generally, these are the skills to look out for.
Hard Skills
- Strong understanding of computer networks and systems security
- Knowledge of various information security methods, policies, regulations, and IT solutions
- Ethical hacking
- Performing multiple tests such as penetration and vulnerability tests
- Data recovery
- Identifying information security risks
- Monitoring breaches and threats to the digital system
- Knowledge of programming languages such as C, C++, Java, PHP
- Installing different software and program
- Knowledge of data integrity and hardware
Soft Skills
- Team management
- Time management
- Critical thinking
- Analytical thinking
- Problem-solving
- Communication
- Creative thinking and ingenuity
- Detail-oriented
- Research skills
- Auditing skills
- Project management
- Training and development
It’s important to note here that both hard and soft skills are incredibly important here. You could be the genius at setting up firewalls and encryptions. However, if you’re not good at working with other people or communicating, you won’t do too well at this job.
Education
Some of the skills needed for this job can’t be simply learned in a day. You have to start building those skills from an early stage. One way to do this is to enroll in the right programs or degrees. To start off, you’ll need a college degree or bachelor’s in computer science or something related to information technology.
An IT-related degree will help you get acquainted with all those programming languages, operating systems security, important theories, etc. This will help form a strong foundation for IT-related skills. Later on, you can also pursue a master’s degree or Ph.D. in a specific field within computer science or information technology.
The projects and coursework of these educational degrees will help you learn important concepts and make you more familiar with the world of cybersecurity.
Experience
Some companies will also require you to have some prior experience before they hire you as a security analyst. This experience will help you get out of the world of theory and get some practical knowledge. The hands-on experience will help you get familiar with the real-life cybersecurity problems.
In addition, you’ll get a chance to hone your interpersonal skills and learn to work with others.
Certifications
Since the job requires a deep understanding and knowledge of a lot of technical stuff, you can really benefit from getting some additional certifications. These will help you learn new concepts, polish old ones, or even specialize in a certain area.
Certifications will also look great on your resume and give you that extra edge over other candidates. Unlike entire degrees, certifications don’t usually take that much time or money. You can easily work on getting one alongside your job or internship. Some certifications you can go for are: