Data security analyst vs senior security engineer

The differences between data security analysts and senior security 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 data security analyst and a senior security engineer. Additionally, a senior security engineer has an average salary of $122,480, which is higher than the $87,446 average annual salary of a data security analyst.

The top three skills for a data security analyst include data security, incident response and access management. The most important skills for a senior security engineer are cloud security, java, and linux.

Data security analyst vs senior security engineer overview

	Data Security Analyst	Senior Security Engineer
Yearly salary	$87,446	$122,480
Hourly rate	$42.04	$58.88
Growth rate	32%	32%
Number of jobs	145,078	69,850
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	6	6

What does a data security analyst do?

A data security analyst's job is to protect computer systems and networks in a company. They are often the solitary individuals standing between a company's networks and potential hackers, and their abilities are highly in demand at this moment. The job role includes installing and uninstalling various security network programs, and these programs safeguard sensitive data by using firewalls with the use of data-encryption technology. In addition, they also help to implement security protocols depending on the need of the company, and they must be updated regularly to remove bugs and add new features.

What does a senior security engineer do?

A senior security engineer is responsible for maintaining the safety and security of the organization's systems and network database to prevent unauthorized access and avoid data breaches. Senior security engineers inspect the efficiency of networks, perform system configuration, and increase the optimal performance of complex systems. They also implement policies and procedures for compliance with the proper utilization of information directories. They also conduct regular maintenance of networks, create update reports, and resolve glitches and security threats.

Data security analyst vs senior security engineer salary

Data security analysts and senior security engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Data Security Analyst	Senior Security Engineer
Average salary	$87,446	$122,480
Salary range	Between $63,000 And $120,000	Between $90,000 And $164,000
Highest paying City	Fairfield, CA	San Francisco, CA
Highest paying state	California	California
Best paying company	Meta	Roku
Best paying industry	Start-up	Manufacturing

Differences between data security analyst and senior security engineer education

There are a few differences between a data security analyst and a senior security engineer in terms of educational background:

	Data Security Analyst	Senior Security Engineer
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 56%	Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common major	Business	Computer Science
Most common college	Stanford University	Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Data security analyst vs senior security engineer demographics

Here are the differences between data security analysts' and senior security engineers' demographics:

	Data Security Analyst	Senior Security Engineer
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 61.0% Female, 39.0%	Male, 91.2% Female, 8.8%
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 data security analyst and senior security engineer duties and responsibilities

Data security analyst example responsibilities.

Provide support for manage IP security services customers in a 24x7 UNIX operations center.
Manage quality control team of senior auditors, budgets, HIPAA compliance reports to CMS, monthly audit tracking/reporting.
Provide architecture and design guidance in network segmentation and isolation of PCI data and equipment in order to achieve PCI compliance.
Manage centralized and decentralize correlation servers for intrusion detection and log monitoring.
Log analysis & managing the accuracy of DLP identification to lowering/avoiding false positives and negatives.
Conduct system testing and implementation of the mainframe encryption.

Senior security engineer example responsibilities.

Manage logistics of moving necessary equipment for test across country to newly designed/built NSA certify test facility.
Assess cloud providers and products to meet NIST 800-53 for accreditation of applications operating in the cloud.
Involve in migrating JBOSS /Fat java applications to RHEL6 upgrade.
Conduct vulnerability scans using NESSUS to scan the CMS QIO network infrastructure.
Install and maintain security infrastructure, including IPS/IDS, log management, and SIEM systems.
Design and implement a plan to upgrade the ACAS infrastructure to include MDA's remote sites.

Data security analyst vs senior security engineer skills

Common data security analyst skills

Data Security, 10%
Incident Response, 8%
Access Management, 6%
Encryption, 5%
SQL, 5%
Security Procedures, 4%

Common senior security engineer skills

Cloud Security, 8%
Java, 8%
Linux, 5%
Windows, 5%
Incident Response, 4%
Security Engineering, 4%

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Data Security Analyst vs Senior Security Engineer

Updated January 8, 2025

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