Cyber Security Specialist: Job Profile and Role

As much as we love the online world and most things digital, it does come with various pitfalls. Security breaches, hacking, phishing, data theft, and information leaks are only some of the dangers we all face when being online. To detect, fix, and prevent cyber attacks, it needs a cyber security specialist. 

In this blog, we take a close look at this interesting job, starting with the qualifications and skills you need to work in this profession. You also find out who will employ you and what annual salaries to expect from said employer. These hard facts aside, you get your first insights into your working day in cyber security. And naturally, you get some valuable tips for thriving and excelling in your job.

Short Summary

• As a cyber security specialist, you are tasked with risk assessment and management where you identify potential cyber security risks in a company’s network and systems.
• As a cyber security specialist, you are an organisation’s security architect. Here, you design, plan, and implement cyber security measures that ideally prevent any form of cyber attack.
• As a cyber security specialist, you may be engaged in so-called “ethical hacking”. This means that you simulate cyber attacks on a company’s network after which you design and implement the appropriate security measures.

Job description

To your company, you are more or less the security shield when it comes to potential cyber attacks. It falls under your responsibility to identify potential cyber risks and vulnerabilities in your company’s network and systems. It is also your job to design, plan, and implement security measures that make breaches and hacking nigh on impossible. Speaking of hacking: one way for you to identify serious threats is to engage in ethical hacking. As a so-called penetration tester, you “attack” your organisation which enables you to design the perfect cyber security. Besides, you are tasked with continuous monitoring of all unusual activity and a swift incident response and solution.

Responsibilities

• Risk Assessment/Management
• Ethical Hacking Engagement
• Threat Intelligence/Research
• Security Awareness/Training
• Security Architecture/Design
• Security Monitoring/Analysis
• Disaster Recovery Planning
• Monitoring Unusual Activity
• Security Auditing/Testing
• Incident Response

Different types of Cyber Security Specialists

• Cryptographer
• Security Architect
• Penetration Tester
• Cyber Security Analyst
• Security Compliance Specialist

Salary

Being a full-time employed cyber security specialist in the UK pays exceptionally well. You can expect to earn between ￡40,000 and ￡70,000 annually, with ￡40,000 being your starting salary. Please keep in mind that your form of employment and your work experience are only two factors that decide how much you earn. Your employer and your location affect your annual wages as well – and it may not surprise you that London currently pays the highest wages.

Note that you can have the highest influence on your wages if you work as a cyber security consultant. Depending on your expertise and your clientele, it is possible to earn even more than the figures we have quoted.

Working Hours

Your weekly working hours as a cyber security specialist tend to be 35 to 40 hours, most of which are office-based. You generally work from Monday to Friday to your employer’s operating hours. Keep in mind that you may be asked to work outside these hours from 9 to 5, meaning that both evening and weekend work is possible. Also, some employers may offer shift work which will affect your working hours as well. 

If you decide to work as a freelance cyber security consultant, you need to factor in travelling time since you will not work as an in-house cyber security specialist. Further flexibility can be asked of you if you offer remote services where you also have to factor in clients from different time zones. 

Employers

There is almost no industry that does not need the services of a cyber security specialist – neither in the UK nor globally. You can pretty much take your pick when it comes to employment – always assuming you have the required qualifications and certifications.

Government agencies are always in almost dire need of cyber security specialists, as is the health sector which is still recovering from a major data breach a few years ago. The financial sector is another obvious choice for cyber security employment. You can also look for jobs that place you with cyber security and consultancy firms – either as an in-house or a freelance expert.

Qualifications

There is no direct educational approach to becoming a cyber security specialist in the UK. Instead, you need to complete preliminary training, for example, an undergraduate degree in computer science or network engineering and security. You can also do an apprenticeship, such as a digital forensic technician level 4 higher apprenticeship or a level 4 network engineer apprenticeship. 

Note that you need high GCSE pass grades (9 to 4/A* to C) or the equivalent A levels, for example, in IT and computer science. After you have completed your education, you should look into getting your CompTIA’s Security+ certification which is acknowledged by most employers. Alternatively, you can progress to the job of a cyber security specialist by gaining the relevant experience and training through an entry-level position in IT.

Skills

A deep and never-ending love for anything computer and digital is absolutely necessary if you want to work in cyber security. It implies an in-depth understanding and a high level of passion for your job – something every employer both values and looks for. Nonetheless, always check what other competencies are required when applying for a job since they may vary depending on an organisation’s needs. Let’s find out what these needs regarding your competencies can be.

Excellent Attention to Detail

Needless to say, you must have eagle eyes when working in cyber security. Not even the most minute detail must escape your notice since this can lead to all sorts of problems. For the job of a cyber security specialist, you need not only to have good attention to detail, you must have excellent skills in this area. This competency should be coupled with endurance, concentration, patience and strong eyesight when working in front of a computer all day.

High Pressure Threshold

Working in cyber security is most certainly not an easy-going job. It involves high levels of pressure and – in case of things going haywire – high-running emotions. A clear head is what is needed in these situations. It should also not be missing on an average day in the life of a cyber security specialist. If you want to succeed and prevent breaches etc., you need a very high pressure threshold – and the ability to shut out all background noise and emotions when it comes to solution-finding and problem-solving.

Emotional Intelligence

Even though we have just said that you need to tune out emotions in certain situations, you should still have emotional intelligence. This enables you to understand a hacker’s mindset, for example, and gives you the chance to prevent future attacks. How so, you may ask? By knowing – or, at least, assuming to know- your cyber opponent’s motivation and agenda, you can exploit his or her weak spots and turn these to your company’s advantage. 

Career Path

Hardly any job offers such a broad career trajectory as the job of a cyber security specialist. Not only can you enter this career from basically every available IT job and career, but you can also branch out and advance into all sorts of specialist areas. What is more: you have the option to get training in tailormade cyber security areas which makes you even more interesting to potential employers. This also sets you up perfectly for turning existing employment into freelance work and offering your services as a cyber security consultant.

Educational Background

Theoretically, you do not need to complete a degree to start working in cyber security. Nevertheless, we recommend that you look into this educational option since most employers prefer job applicants who have an undergraduate degree, for example, a Bachelor’s degree in computer science or network engineering and security. An undergraduate degree is also a good starting point if you decide to do a postgraduate degree, such as a Master’s degree or even a PhD.

If practical training is important to you, we recommend that you look into appropriate apprenticeships. Two options are a cyber security technologist level 4 higher apprenticeship and a cyber security technical professional level 6 degree apprenticeship.

Specialist Training 

Gaining work experience in IT and/or cyber security is the first step to becoming a cyber security specialist in the UK. You can do this by either applying for an entry-level position in cyber security or getting valuable insights by attending so-called white-hat hacker camps.

Moreover, cyber security is a diverse field which offers you various specialist areas. We recommend that you think about your preferred option of expertise and train accordingly. For instance, you can look into becoming a digital forensic expert, or work in threat management, application or network security. Specialising in a field enables you to offer bespoke services, be it as a consultant or an in-house cyber security specialist.

Continuous Learning

We highly recommend that you not only look into but also gain the relevant certifications for cyber security specialists in the UK. We have already mentioned CompTIA Security+ which teaches you the basic skills needed for working in cyber security. Besides, you can become a CISSP, a certified information system security professional. Note that you need between three and five years of work experience before you can actually sit the required exams. 

If you are interested in a certification that is globally recognised, becoming a CISA, a certified information security auditor, is an interesting option. If becoming a penetration tester/ethical hacker is your chosen career, you should strive to become a certified ethical hacker (CEH).

Entry-Level Certifications in IT

There are even more certifications that help you in your cyber security specialist career. Some of those are specially designed as entry-level certifications and benefit those who start their career without prior knowledge or work experience. If this applies to you, you will be interested in the following IT entry-level certifications: CompTIA A+ and Network+, becoming an SSCP (systems security certified practitioner), or a certified associate in project management (CAPM),

A Day in the Life of a Cyber Security Specialist

Your day in cyber security may not always be exciting by being a trouble-shooter and dealing with nasty cyber attacks. It can equally be quite mellow and “all” you do is design and plan cyber security measures based on an organisation’s needs and vulnerabilities. In this section, we take a look at both the “mellow” and the exciting tasks waiting for you when working in cyber security.

Vulnerability Assessment

This job falls under the responsibilities of a penetration tester or ethical hacker. As stated already, ethical hackers simulate cyber attacks which show the exact vulnerabilities in an organisation’s systems and networks. This is one of the most important jobs in cyber security since it anticipates and preempts future and real cyber attacks. By exploring the most aggressive and at the same time almost undetectable cyber hacks, you can then come up with security measures that are almost unbreachable. 

Security Awareness Training

It is equally important that you schedule and perform security awareness training. You being the called-in expert are all well and good. But your knowledge needs to be imparted and communicated to other members of a company, be it other (IT) departments, the directors, or stakeholders. Security awareness training is an excellent way to ensure that every company member and employee has the tools to deal with cyber attacks correctly. 

Security Management

After you have implemented a cyber security system, you need to regularly check whether it is working flawlessly. Security management, therefore, is another daily or weekly task you perform when working in cyber security. You must ensure that all software is up-to-date and that all security systems run smoothly by configuring and fine-tuning the relevant tools and controls.

Tips for Thriving as a Cyber Security Specialist

Your specialist training and important certifications are two steps towards thriving in cyber security. Nevertheless, there are other ways to advance your career, for example, by investing time into improving your competencies. In this section, we explore three tips that support your career advancement as a cyber security specialist:

• Stay up-to-date
• Ethical mindset
• Communication

Stay Up-to-Date

As with any job revolving around the digital world, you need to stay up-to-date at all times when working in cyber security. New threats occur almost daily – or so it feels – and you need to be aware of the latest developments and advancements in cyber attacks, be it phishing, hacking, identity-based attacks, spoofing, insider threats, or code injection attacks. Your knowledge ensures that you can develop and set up incident response plans well in advance of any threat coming an organisation’s way. 

Ethical Mindset

Cyber attacks are the opposite of ethical behaviour since they are designed to hurt either individuals or corporate organisations. You, as a cyber security specialist, need to be on the other side of this (non-)ethical coin and work on a flawless ethical approach. This postulates an ethical mindset, meaning that you know which of your measures do not stray into sketchy and grey areas which, in turn, can put you in a moral dilemma. 

Communication

Communication is key in most jobs, including the job of a cyber security specialist. You need every communication skill there is if you want to work, succeed, and thrive in this profession. You not only spend time on cyber security measures, but you also need to document and file your reports, conduct security awareness training, and keep in (digital) touch with your employers and your team of other IT experts. Therefore, you should always strive to improve your written, verbal, and non-verbal communication skills.

Frequently Asked Questions