The following article discusses the career path of Security Engineer. Learn about how to become one, education requirements, job duties, traits and qualities, national salary outlook as well as top national employers of Security Engineers.
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Job Duties
Security engineers are responsible for the development of computer solutions that effectively render their business’ projects and systems more secure. They do this by developing new strategies to resolve security issues, while also remaining up to date with new potential threats. They must have a full grasp of prevention protocols and intrusion detection.
Security engineers also deal with technical issues in relation to production equipment and applications. They know how to respond to incidents and understand IT forensics completely. They also manage the workflow and develop emergency preparedness strategies and responses. They often work together with other professionals and engineers to ensure that production problems are avoided or mitigated.
Security engineers perform security checks and keep logs on their results, thereby spotting vulnerabilities before there is a breach. They also write automation scripts that enable them to track and handle different incidents. They must be multitaskers, performing engineering duties while also reporting to senior chiefs and managers. Usually, they work regular hours, although they will be required to render overtime work if needed, for instance, if there is a security breach.
Other duties of a security engineer are:
- To develop and initialize intrusion detection systems and firewalls
- To develop proper responses to network intrusions
- To conduct forensic investigations
- To upgrade hardware and software and test them, implementing modern technologies as and where required
- To develop test plans that enable security to be properly evaluated at all times
- To find solutions to security issues and implement an appropriate defense system
Where We Work
According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, there were 100,000 information security analysts in 2016, a profession closely related to that of the security engineer. The largest employers of these professionals are:
- Computer systems design and related services: 28%
- Finance and insurance: 19%
- Management of companies and enterprises: 9%
- Information: 8%
- Administrative and support services: 6%
How to Become
Security engineers need to be strong communicators and excellent team players. They also have to focus on delivering results, often in a very high pressure environment. They must be excellent problem solvers who can work on their own and who have strong math skills to deal with complex issues. Naturally, they must be fully up to date with operating systems and computer languages.
Generally, they need to hold a bachelor’s degree in a field related to computer science or engineering. Most also have a number of years of work experience in entry level positions. Additionally, it is common for them to hold certifications in industry security.
Work experience is very important as this ensures that they understand computer systems and networks, and that their knowledge is current and up to date. Additionally, it is common for them to become security engineers in industries in which they previously worked. For instance, someone who worked as an IT support officer in a health care environment will be more likely to be hired as a security engineer in that same environment.
Education Requirements
A security engineer should hold a bachelor’s degree in a field related to programming, information assurance, or computer science as a minimum. It is becoming common for employers to look for those who hold a master’s degree, with the master of business administration (MBA) being particularly popular.
A number of different licenses and certifications exist that a security engineer could choose to obtain. Certification is not mandatory in most cases, but it is preferred as it demonstrates their commitment towards excellence, while at the same time indicating that their knowledge is up to date, as continuous education is generally required to maintain certification. The Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) is quite popular for this.
Traits & Qualities
The most effective security engineers have the following traits to some degree or other:
– Strong analytical skills
– Detail oriented
– Ingenuity
– Excellent problem solving skills
– Ability to think outside the box
– Strong communication skills, particularly verbal
Minimum Education
Bachelor’s Degree
The national average salary estimate for Security Engineer was $103,459. This number is estimated from over 2,159,636 employees, users past and present job advertisements from Indeed.com. This equates to an hourly salary of $53.88 and monthly of $8,622.
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$31,000
$218,000
The following section lists Security Engineer salaries in each state around the country. The figures are based on the total number of job postings through Indeed.com. For example, California had the largest quoted salary of $124,737 while Idaho had the smallest quoted salary of $43,200.
According to Indeed.com, the following states had employers looking to hire a Security Engineer. The quoted salary figure represents the average salary from all job postings by this employer.
| Employer Name | Location | Average Salary |
|---|---|---|
| Abacus Technology Security Engineer | Michigan | $280,000 |
| Two Sigma Security Engineer | New York | $198,143 |
| Gina’s Tech Jobs Security Engineer | Maryland | $181,423 |
| GinasTechJobs.com Security Engineer | Maryland | $181,423 |
| Prime Team Partners Security Engineer | Washington | $179,877 |
| Princeton Consulting Security Engineer | Connecticut | $175,946 |
| Prime Team Partners, Inc Security Engineer | Washington | $174,704 |
| Vaco Security Engineer | Virginia | $173,328 |
| Huxley Financial Services Security Engineer | Illinois | $172,798 |
| AMS Staffing Security Engineer | New York | $170,464 |
| Motion Recruitment Partners Prod Security Engineer | New Jersey | $169,371 |
| Harrington Starr Security Engineer | New York | $166,997 |
| Parallel Partners Security Engineer | Maryland | $166,950 |
| Randstad Security Engineer | Nebraska | $164,322 |
| CyberCoders Security Engineer | Missouri | $163,600 |
| Next Step Systems Security Engineer | Maryland | $162,903 |
| HERO.jobs Security Engineer | California | $160,000 |
Learn More
- Security Engineering – GSA
- Information Security Analysts : Occupational Outlook …
- Archived NIST Technical Series Publication
| Career Name | Average Salary |
|---|---|
| Investment Manager | $108,746 |
| Director of Sales | $108,014 |
| Sales Director | $107,659 |
| Tax Manager | $107,133 |
| Risk Manager | $103,743 |
| Technical Project Manager | $100,971 |
| Director of Finance | $99,996 |
| Finance Director | $99,963 |
| Director of Security | $99,822 |
| Economist | $97,781 |
