Cyber security specialist vs senior security consultant

The differences between cyber security specialists and senior security consultants 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 specialist and a senior security consultant. Additionally, a senior security consultant has an average salary of $120,769, which is higher than the $93,395 average annual salary of a cyber security specialist.

The top three skills for a cyber security specialist include cyber security, incident response and NIST. The most important skills for a senior security consultant are cloud security, infrastructure, and governance.

Cyber security specialist vs senior security consultant overview

	Cyber Security Specialist	Senior Security Consultant
Yearly salary	$93,395	$120,769
Hourly rate	$44.90	$58.06
Growth rate	32%	32%
Number of jobs	65,235	66,226
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	6	6

What does a cyber security specialist do?

Cybersecurity Specialists are information technology (IT) professionals who safeguard and protect the company's networks. They ensure that the network infrastructure is secure at all times. They do routine checks to see whether the infrastructure is vulnerable to attacks. Cybersecurity Specialists monitor and respond to security concerns. They launch programs or software to mitigate any attacks that the company's infrastructure may receive. They also look for ways to minimize the network infrastructure's vulnerability to risks, threats, and attacks.

What does a senior security consultant do?

A senior security consultant is an information technology (IT) expert specializing in establishing security protocols and systems to protect a company's data and network. Their responsibilities revolve around performing internal research and analysis to identify the strengths and weaknesses of current IT security systems, recommending solutions to problem areas, and suggesting new tools and techniques to improve data security. Furthermore, as a senior security consultant, it is essential to monitor the company's systems and networks and promptly respond to any breaches, conducting corrective and preventive measures to prevent it from ever happening again.

Cyber security specialist vs senior security consultant salary

Cyber security specialists and senior security consultants have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Cyber Security Specialist	Senior Security Consultant
Average salary	$93,395	$120,769
Salary range	Between $69,000 And $125,000	Between $91,000 And $159,000
Highest paying City	Bellevue, WA	Sacramento, CA
Highest paying state	Washington	Nevada
Best paying company	BP America Inc	Amazon
Best paying industry	Technology	Technology

Differences between cyber security specialist and senior security consultant education

There are a few differences between a cyber security specialist and a senior security consultant in terms of educational background:

	Cyber Security Specialist	Senior Security Consultant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 67%
Most common major	Computer Science	Business
Most common college	North Carolina State University	Stanford University

Cyber security specialist vs senior security consultant demographics

Here are the differences between cyber security specialists' and senior security consultants' demographics:

	Cyber Security Specialist	Senior Security Consultant
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 83.2% Female, 16.8%	Male, 86.1% Female, 13.9%
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 specialist and senior security consultant duties and responsibilities

Cyber security specialist example responsibilities.

Manage and monitor enterprise antivirus and software firewall programs.
Implement a manage endpoint encryption solution utilizing TrendMicro MobileArmor to secure university workstations against sensitive data loss.
Scan network infrastructure for insecurities and vulnerabilities using programs such as ACAS and HBSS.
Work on implementing DISA STIGS.
Assist in using Nessus to scan local machines.
Upload audit files to ACAS in preparation for STIG scans.

Senior security consultant example responsibilities.

Manage GLBA security awareness and training program and annual information security awareness activities.
Work alongside the QA department to ensure all documents are concise and well written in order to meet ISO's standards.
Monitor company s internal logs and traffic via Splunk to proactively investigate suspicious traffic and determine if the anomalies are malicious.
Perform email and file encryption transition for global financial/insurance company.
Assist organizations with creation of their management systems and registration to international (ISO) security and service management standards.
Provide technical leadership, task management, and engineering support to customers in the development of cryptography and key management solutions.

Cyber security specialist vs senior security consultant skills

Common cyber security specialist skills

Cyber Security, 17%
Incident Response, 6%
NIST, 5%
Security Operations, 4%
Forensics, 4%
DOD, 3%

Common senior security consultant skills

Cloud Security, 9%
Infrastructure, 7%
Governance, 5%
Java, 5%
Risk Management, 5%
Access Management, 4%

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Cyber Security Specialist vs Senior Security Consultant

Updated January 8, 2025

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