Chief security officer vs information assurance engineer

The differences between chief security officers and information assurance engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. While it typically takes 6-8 years to become a chief security officer, becoming an information assurance engineer takes usually requires 4-6 years. Additionally, a chief security officer has an average salary of $144,017, which is higher than the $89,291 average annual salary of an information assurance engineer.

The top three skills for a chief security officer include oversight, risk management and security program. The most important skills for an information assurance engineer are RMF, DOD, and IAM.

Chief security officer vs information assurance engineer overview

	Chief Security Officer	Information Assurance Engineer
Yearly salary	$144,017	$89,291
Hourly rate	$69.24	$42.93
Growth rate	16%	32%
Number of jobs	107,163	104,421
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	47	42
Years of experience	8	6

What does a chief security officer do?

Chief security officers are a part of a company's executives assigned to secure all company assets, personnel, and premises. The importance of this position increases with the continuous innovation of technology. These officers need to have advanced computer skills and critical thinking skills and be meticulous about details. Having chief security officers in a company can help add value to the company and gain a competitive advantage over competitors. They also manage a network of managers, staff, and security directors and coordinate with law enforcement or other security agencies.

What does an information assurance engineer do?

Information assurance engineers are responsible for protecting an organization's data. They act as a team of security specialists that use their skill in securely operating and keeping data to protect the organization's most essential asset. Their main role is to guarantee the quality, security, and retrievability of the organization's information. Also, they outline security systems that make certain the integrity, confidentiality, and accessibility of data. Additionally, they secure IT infrastructure, maintain hardware and software updated, establish security standards, and monitor threats like breaches.

Chief security officer vs information assurance engineer salary

Chief security officers and information assurance engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Chief Security Officer	Information Assurance Engineer
Average salary	$144,017	$89,291
Salary range	Between $101,000 And $204,000	Between $67,000 And $117,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Santa Clara, CA
Highest paying state	California	Oregon
Best paying company	McKinsey & Company Inc	Parsons
Best paying industry	Insurance	Professional

Differences between chief security officer and information assurance engineer education

There are a few differences between a chief security officer and an information assurance engineer in terms of educational background:

	Chief Security Officer	Information Assurance Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 55%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Criminal Justice	Information Technology
Most common college	California State University - Bakersfield	-

Chief security officer vs information assurance engineer demographics

Here are the differences between chief security officers' and information assurance engineers' demographics:

	Chief Security Officer	Information Assurance Engineer
Average age	47	42
Gender ratio	Male, 91.0% Female, 9.0%	Male, 78.6% Female, 21.4%
Race ratio	Black or African American, 6.8% Unknown, 5.2% Hispanic or Latino, 10.2% Asian, 12.6% White, 64.9% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.2%	Black or African American, 9.2% Unknown, 6.1% Hispanic or Latino, 9.0% Asian, 9.6% White, 65.7% American Indian and Alaska Native, 0.4%
LGBT Percentage	11%	9%

Differences between chief security officer and information assurance engineer duties and responsibilities

Chief security officer example responsibilities.

Manage SOX information security assessments.
Manage institution-wide information security governance processes including the creation and deployment of the initial security policy using the ISO framework.
Coordinate effective information exchange that begin with administrative controls using local encryption; direct migration to secure telecommunications links.
Enable secure transactions and electronic point-to-point communications, in private and secure digital encryption, leveraging digital signatures, without plugins.
Provide [] COBIT, and FISMA security program assessments.
Conduct destruction of COMSEC classify and unclassify material and maintain material inventories.

Information assurance engineer example responsibilities.

Install, configure, and managing ACAS deployments to assess the current vulnerabilities and security posture for classify networks.
Implement a manage endpoint encryption solution utilizing TrendMicro MobileArmor to secure university workstations against sensitive data loss.
Review system security plans, risk assessments, and compliance with NIST minimal security controls.
Assess network against NIST SP 800-53 rev3 security controls.
Review of PowerBroker root user logs on SOX UNIX systems.
Automate regression scenarios and update existing regression suite (QTP).

Chief security officer vs information assurance engineer skills

Common chief security officer skills

Oversight, 6%
Risk Management, 5%
Security Program, 5%
Security Policies, 5%
CSO, 5%
Incident Response, 4%

Common information assurance engineer skills

RMF, 9%
DOD, 9%
IAM, 5%
Windows, 5%
ACAS, 5%
Assurance Support, 4%

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Chief Security Officer
Chief Security Officer vs Information Assurance Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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