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Cyber security engineer vs information security analyst

The differences between cyber security engineers and information security analysts 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 security analyst. Additionally, a cyber security engineer has an average salary of $99,492, which is higher than the $98,144 average annual salary of an information security analyst.

The top three skills for a cyber security engineer include cyber security, python and linux. The most important skills for an information security analyst are incident response, risk assessments, and windows.

Cyber security engineer vs information security analyst overview

Cyber Security EngineerInformation Security Analyst
Yearly salary$99,492$98,144
Hourly rate$47.83$47.18
Growth rate32%32%
Number of jobs73,419112,818
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 60%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Average age4242
Years of experience66

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 security analyst do?

An information security analyst is an individual who is responsible for carrying out security measures to protect the computer network and systems of an organization. Information security analysts erect firewalls and encrypt data transmissions to protect the organization's data from being inappropriately accessed or used. They must be aware of reports on computer viruses and should share this information with the management or customer. Information security analysts are also required to conduct training for all the organization's employees regarding computer security and information safeguarding.

Cyber security engineer vs information security analyst salary

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

Cyber Security EngineerInformation Security Analyst
Average salary$99,492$98,144
Salary rangeBetween $75,000 And $131,000Between $71,000 And $135,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyDotdashThe Walt Disney Company
Best paying industryTechnologyProfessional

Differences between cyber security engineer and information security analyst education

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

Cyber Security EngineerInformation Security Analyst
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 60%Bachelor's Degree, 62%
Most common majorComputer ScienceBusiness
Most common collegeUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillStanford University

Cyber security engineer vs information security analyst demographics

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

Cyber Security EngineerInformation Security Analyst
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 83.8% Female, 16.2%Male, 72.9% Female, 27.1%
Race ratioBlack 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 Percentage9%9%

Differences between cyber security engineer and information security analyst 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.
  • Show more

Information security analyst example responsibilities.

  • Manage IA personnel in the performance of IAVM tasks.
  • Lead maritime IP intrusion detection analysis special project providing models to identify Cyber terrorist's capabilities, methods, and strategies.
  • Manage and configure perimeter Cisco routers and switches.
  • Implement a manage endpoint encryption solution utilizing TrendMicro MobileArmor to secure university workstations against sensitive data loss.
  • Perform vulnerability assessment and remediation of systems to ensure compliance to policies, regulations and controls (HIPAA & NIST).
  • Monitor and analyze SIEM events to identify security issues for remediation.
  • Show more

Cyber security engineer vs information security analyst skills

Common cyber security engineer skills
  • Cyber Security, 17%
  • Python, 5%
  • Linux, 4%
  • Architecture, 4%
  • NIST, 4%
  • Incident Response, 4%
Common information security analyst skills
  • Incident Response, 7%
  • Risk Assessments, 5%
  • Windows, 5%
  • SIEM, 4%
  • Data Loss Prevention, 4%
  • Network Security, 3%

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