Cyber security engineer vs information assurance engineer

The differences between cyber security engineers and information assurance engineers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a cyber security engineer and an information assurance engineer. Additionally, a cyber security engineer has an average salary of $99,492, which is higher than the $89,291 average annual salary of an information assurance engineer.

The top three skills for a cyber security engineer include cyber security, python and linux. The most important skills for an information assurance engineer are RMF, DOD, and IAM.

Cyber security engineer vs information assurance engineer overview

	Cyber Security Engineer	Information Assurance Engineer
Yearly salary	$99,492	$89,291
Hourly rate	$47.83	$42.93
Growth rate	32%	32%
Number of jobs	73,419	104,421
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	6	6

What does a cyber security engineer do?

A cyber security engineer specializes in designing and establishing security measures to protect a company's network and data from hackers or cyber attacks. Their responsibilities primarily revolve around planning and implementing cyber security systems, responding to any problems or concerns, handling security breaches and emergencies, and troubleshooting to identify any issues or vulnerabilities. Moreover, a cyber security engineer may perform clerical tasks such as producing progress reports and documentation, creating instructional materials for systems, managing schedules, and coordinating with department managers, all while adhering to the company's policies and regulations.

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.

Cyber security engineer vs information assurance engineer salary

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

	Cyber Security Engineer	Information Assurance Engineer
Average salary	$99,492	$89,291
Salary range	Between $75,000 And $131,000	Between $67,000 And $117,000
Highest paying City	San Francisco, CA	Santa Clara, CA
Highest paying state	California	Oregon
Best paying company	Dotdash	Parsons
Best paying industry	Technology	Professional

Differences between cyber security engineer and information assurance engineer education

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

	Cyber Security Engineer	Information Assurance Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 60%	Bachelor's Degree, 60%
Most common major	Computer Science	Information Technology
Most common college	University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill	-

Cyber security engineer vs information assurance engineer demographics

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

	Cyber Security Engineer	Information Assurance Engineer
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 83.8% Female, 16.2%	Male, 78.6% Female, 21.4%
Race ratio	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%	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	9%	9%

Differences between cyber security engineer and information assurance engineer duties and responsibilities

Cyber security engineer example responsibilities.

Facilitate and manage weekly meetings between CyberCom, DISA and all OSD components.
Manage security patching life cycle and approve change control requests, firewall rules and DLP policies.
Manage, configure, and maintain all servers within the environments, including Cisco network routers, switches, and firewalls.
Lead security authorization efforts to obtain and maintain an authorization to operate (ATO) for customers' core financial system.
Manage efforts to consolidate customer VPN infrastructure.
Lead numerous DLP upgrades and process improvements and successfully implement application security program.

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).

Cyber security engineer vs information assurance engineer skills

Common cyber security engineer skills

Cyber Security, 17%
Python, 5%
Linux, 4%
Architecture, 4%
NIST, 4%
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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Cyber Security Engineer vs Information Assurance Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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