Explore jobs
Find specific jobs
Explore careers
Explore professions
Best companies
Explore companies
The differences between defense analysts and 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 defense analyst and a security engineer. Additionally, a security engineer has an average salary of $104,524, 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 security engineer are java, cloud security, and infrastructure.
| Defense Analyst | Security Engineer | |
| Yearly salary | $86,453 | $104,524 |
| Hourly rate | $41.56 | $50.25 |
| Growth rate | 32% | 32% |
| Number of jobs | 24,879 | 86,093 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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.
Security engineers are responsible for developing and overseeing data and security software to help prevent data breaches, leaks, and taps related to cybercrime. Other duties and responsibilities include developing new systems to help protect computer networks and assets, configuring firewalls, and conducting penetration testing to pinpoint vulnerabilities. Additionally, security engineers are responsible for investigating attacks and help prevent cybersecurity threat. They are also responsible for creating new processes for authorization, encryption algorithms, and authentication, and analyzing current security policies.
Defense analysts and security engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Defense Analyst | Security Engineer | |
| Average salary | $86,453 | $104,524 |
| Salary range | Between $65,000 And $114,000 | Between $77,000 And $141,000 |
| Highest paying City | - | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | - | California |
| Best paying company | - | ICE Mortgage Technology |
| Best paying industry | - | Technology |
There are a few differences between a defense analyst and a security engineer in terms of educational background:
| Defense Analyst | Security Engineer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 62% | Bachelor's Degree, 63% |
| Most common major | Business | Computer Science |
| Most common college | Stanford University | Massachusetts Institute of Technology |
Here are the differences between defense analysts' and security engineers' demographics:
| Defense Analyst | Security Engineer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 76.2% Female, 23.8% | Male, 86.4% Female, 13.6% |
| 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% |