How To Become A Network Security Officer: What It Is and Career Path

What is a network security officer and how to become one

Updated January 8, 2025

3 min read

The average network security officer salary is $89,839. The most common degree is a bachelor's degree degree with an computer science major. It usually takes 4-6 years of experience to become a network security officer. Network security officers with a Security 5 Certification certification earn more money. Between 2018 and 2028, the career is expected to grow 32% and produce 35,500 job opportunities across the U.S.

ScoreNetwork Security OfficerUS Average

Salary

7.0

Avg. Salary $89,839

Avg. Salary $59,228

Stability level

6.5

Growth rate 32%

Growth rate 0.3%

Diversity

4.8

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 0.43%

Asian 9.64%

Black or African American 9.15%

Hispanic or Latino 8.99%

Unknown 6.09%

White 65.70%

Gender

female 14.85%

male 85.15%

Age - 42

Race

American Indian and Alaska Native 3.00%

Asian 7.00%

Black or African American 14.00%

Hispanic or Latino 19.00%

White 57.00%

Gender

female 47.00%

male 53.00%

Age - 42

Stress level

6.5

Stress level is high

7.1 - high

Complexity level

8.4

Complexity level is challenging

7 - challenging

Work life balance

6.9

Work life balance is good

6.4 - fair

Key steps to become a network security officer

Explore network security officer education requirements

Most common network security officer degrees

Bachelor's

62.1 %

Associate

21.5 %

Master's

11.3 %

Start to develop specific network security officer skills

Skills	Percentages
Security Policies	12.28%
Incident Response	6.45%
Encryption	6.15%
Firewall	6.03%
IDS	6.03%

Complete relevant network security officer training and internships

Accountants spend an average of 6-12 months on post-employment, on-the-job training. New network security officers learn the skills and techniques required for their job and employer during this time. The chart below shows how long it takes to gain competency as a network security officer based on U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data and data from real network security officer resumes.

Research network security officer duties and responsibilities

Manage command training and policies to ensure compliance to DoD standards.
Manage SharePoint, physical security, data warehousing, help desk service, audit teams, and cybersecurity workgroups.
Develop and manage covert CCTV program to support corporate investigations.
Maintain PC hardware and software.

Prepare your network security officer resume

When your background is strong enough, you can start writing your network security officer resume.

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