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Cyber security engineer vs information systems security officer

The differences between cyber security engineers and information systems security officers 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 systems security officer. Additionally, a cyber security engineer has an average salary of $99,492, which is higher than the $90,730 average annual salary of an information systems security officer.

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

Cyber security engineer vs information systems security officer overview

Cyber Security EngineerInformation Systems Security Officer
Yearly salary$99,492$90,730
Hourly rate$47.83$43.62
Growth rate32%32%
Number of jobs73,419202,299
Job satisfaction-5
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 60%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
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 systems security officer do?

An information systems security officer's role is to perform preventive measures to protect a company's data and systems from hackers or cyber-attacks. Their responsibilities revolve around assessing the existing security measures to identify any vulnerabilities or inconsistencies, recommending and implementing changes to improve security systems, and developing new strategies and programs for data protection. There are also instances when an information systems security officer must manage and maintain information in databases, train new employees, and create new security policies, all while adhering to the company's vision and mission.

Cyber security engineer vs information systems security officer salary

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

Cyber Security EngineerInformation Systems Security Officer
Average salary$99,492$90,730
Salary rangeBetween $75,000 And $131,000Between $68,000 And $120,000
Highest paying CitySan Francisco, CAPalmdale, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyDotdashParsons
Best paying industryTechnologyProfessional

Differences between cyber security engineer and information systems security officer education

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

Cyber Security EngineerInformation Systems Security Officer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 60%Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common majorComputer ScienceComputer Information Systems
Most common collegeUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillStanford University

Cyber security engineer vs information systems security officer demographics

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

Cyber Security EngineerInformation Systems Security Officer
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 83.8% Female, 16.2%Male, 78.3% Female, 21.7%
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 systems security officer 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 systems security officer example responsibilities.

  • Manage a $1 million civilian contract; ISSO for 4 separate networks , 9K users, and 8K systems.
  • Lead implementation for new DAR solution for global disk encryption, developing management policy to prevent document and data leakage.
  • Manage logistics of moving necessary equipment for test across country to newly designed/built NSA certify test facility.
  • Track and report risk identify in the vulnerability scans to the IAM.
  • Perform user account administration, media control, implementation and enforcement of DoD computer security plans/policies/procedures/directives, and system security training.
  • Install DISA security patches on UNIX servers.
  • Show more

Cyber security engineer vs information systems security officer skills

Common cyber security engineer skills
  • Cyber Security, 17%
  • Python, 5%
  • Linux, 4%
  • Architecture, 4%
  • NIST, 4%
  • Incident Response, 4%
Common information systems security officer skills
  • RMF, 9%
  • DOD, 8%
  • ISSO, 7%
  • Windows, 5%
  • Security Posture, 5%
  • SCI, 4%

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