Defense analyst vs cyber security analyst

The differences between defense analysts and cyber 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 defense analyst and a cyber security analyst. Additionally, a cyber security analyst has an average salary of $88,422, which is higher than the $86,453 average annual salary of a defense analyst.

The top three skills for a defense analyst include incident response, DOD and windows. The most important skills for a cyber security analyst are incident response, windows, and SIEM.

Defense analyst vs cyber security analyst overview

	Defense Analyst	Cyber Security Analyst
Yearly salary	$86,453	$88,422
Hourly rate	$41.56	$42.51
Growth rate	32%	32%
Number of jobs	24,879	64,387
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Average age	42	42
Years of experience	6	6

What does a defense analyst do?

A defense analyst specializes in developing programs and policies about national security and safety. They usually work for the military, government agencies, private firms, and even the Department of Defense. Their responsibilities focus on conducting extensive research, analyzing military procedures and operations, assessing threats, identifying potential risks, and studying the current laws and policies, recommending solutions to optimize processes, solve issues, or prevent problems. Moreover, through their research, a defense analyst develops conclusions that will help offices in making decisions.

What does a cyber security analyst do?

A cybersecurity analyst is responsible for planning and carrying out security measures to protect a company's computer networks and systems. They constantly keep tabs on threats and monitor their organization's networks for any security breaches. Their tasks involve installing computer programs or software and encryption, reporting breaches or weak spots, exploring new IT trends, educating the company's information security team on security. They also do simulate security attacks to find possible network and system vulnerabilities.

Defense analyst vs cyber security analyst salary

Defense analysts and cyber security analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.

	Defense Analyst	Cyber Security Analyst
Average salary	$86,453	$88,422
Salary range	Between $65,000 And $114,000	Between $66,000 And $117,000
Highest paying City	-	Los Angeles, CA
Highest paying state	-	Oregon
Best paying company	-	Neighborly
Best paying industry	-	Automotive

Differences between defense analyst and cyber security analyst education

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

	Defense Analyst	Cyber Security Analyst
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 61%
Most common major	Business	Computer Information Systems
Most common college	Stanford University	California State University - Bakersfield

Defense analyst vs cyber security analyst demographics

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

	Defense Analyst	Cyber Security Analyst
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 76.2% Female, 23.8%	Male, 78.5% Female, 21.5%
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 defense analyst and cyber security analyst duties and responsibilities

Defense analyst example responsibilities.

Program and troubleshoot system micro controllers, card readers, alarm inputs/outputs, and manage device IP communication.
Utilize Wireshark to perform in depth intrusion analysis from packet capture (PCAP) files.
Conduct INFOCON assessments and collaborate with clients to provide recommendations regarding network security operations on DoD systems.
Review SourceFire events and perform analysis on events.
Use Wireshark, a network protocol analyzer to conduct deep TCP and UDP packet analysis of all network events.
Conduct firewall research and intrusion detection and determine false positives.

Cyber security analyst example responsibilities.

Ensure all requirements are met to successfully achieve an ATO before release.
Leverage this same site-to-site VPN technology to automate and secure transactions between FMC and its business partners.
Lead technical implementation through multiple projects to reduce the cardholder data environment and ultimately reduce the scope of PCI relate environments.
Log analysis & managing the accuracy of DLP identification to lowering/avoiding false positives and negatives.
Review and manage the security and information assurance capabilities of database applications, database structure and architecture.
Implement a manage endpoint encryption solution utilizing TrendMicro MobileArmor to secure university workstations against sensitive data loss.

Defense analyst vs cyber security analyst skills

Common defense analyst skills

Incident Response, 14%
DOD, 9%
Windows, 6%
Tcp Ip, 5%
Network Security, 5%
Network Traffic, 4%

Common cyber security analyst skills

Incident Response, 8%
Windows, 6%
SIEM, 5%
DOD, 5%
Linux, 4%
Security Events, 4%

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Defense Analyst vs Cyber Security Analyst

Updated January 8, 2025

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