Defense analyst vs information security consultant

The differences between defense analysts and information 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 defense analyst and an information security consultant. Additionally, an information security consultant has an average salary of $103,316, 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 an information security consultant are risk assessments, risk management, and SQL.

Defense analyst vs information security consultant overview

	Defense Analyst	Information Security Consultant
Yearly salary	$86,453	$103,316
Hourly rate	$41.56	$49.67
Growth rate	32%	32%
Number of jobs	24,879	113,409
Job satisfaction	-	-
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
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 an information security consultant do?

Information Security Consultants are information technology (IT) professionals who are responsible for assessing computer and network systems to implement security solutions for the IT needs of an organization. These consultants must prevent unauthorized access to financial and personal information of the organization by assessing its existing infrastructures and systems for weaknesses. They must provide advice and recommendations on the best method to ensure security for their IT system. Information Security Consultants must also perform penetration testing and malware analysis to identify any network weaknesses.

Defense analyst vs information security consultant salary

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

	Defense Analyst	Information Security Consultant
Average salary	$86,453	$103,316
Salary range	Between $65,000 And $114,000	Between $76,000 And $138,000
Highest paying City	-	Carson City, NV
Highest paying state	-	Pennsylvania
Best paying company	-	eBay
Best paying industry	-	Finance

Differences between defense analyst and information security consultant education

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

	Defense Analyst	Information Security Consultant
Most common degree	Bachelor's Degree, 62%	Bachelor's Degree, 65%
Most common major	Business	Computer Science
Most common college	Stanford University	Stanford University

Defense analyst vs information security consultant demographics

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

	Defense Analyst	Information Security Consultant
Average age	42	42
Gender ratio	Male, 76.2% Female, 23.8%	Male, 71.0% Female, 29.0%
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 information security consultant 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.

Information security consultant example responsibilities.

Manage the conversion to a hybrid NAS/disk/tape CommVault base backup environment resulting in decreasing backup windows and improving recovery objectives.
Perform privacy and security assessments and HIPAA compliance analysis of cloud-base medical service; draft legal opinion letter regarding same.
Provide guidance to different teams for closing critical infrastructure, network and application security vulnerabilities report in 3rd party security audit.
Defined/Creat tables, process SQL backup restore via export/import.
Select and on-board audit firm to perform management SOX testing.
Perform ISO testing to ensure compliance with security framework controls.

Defense analyst vs information security consultant skills

Common defense analyst skills

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

Common information security consultant skills

Risk Assessments, 6%
Risk Management, 6%
SQL, 6%
NIST, 6%
Infrastructure, 6%
Subject Matter Expertise, 6%

Defense Analyst vs. similar jobs

Defense Analyst related careers

Defense Analyst related jobs

What similar roles do

Zippia Careers
Computer and Mathematical Industry
Defense Analyst
Defense Analyst vs Information Security Consultant

Updated January 8, 2025

Browse computer and mathematical jobs