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The differences between security engineers and information security officers can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. It typically takes 4-6 years to become both a security engineer and an information security officer. Additionally, an information security officer has an average salary of $135,040, which is higher than the $104,524 average annual salary of a security engineer.
The top three skills for a security engineer include java, cloud security and infrastructure. The most important skills for an information security officer are risk management, risk assessments, and incident response.
| Security Engineer | Information Security Officer | |
| Yearly salary | $104,524 | $135,040 |
| Hourly rate | $50.25 | $64.92 |
| Growth rate | 32% | 32% |
| Number of jobs | 86,093 | 145,907 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Years of experience | 6 | 6 |
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.
Information security officers are responsible for planning and implementing policies to safeguard an organization's computer network and data from different types of security breaches. Their duties typically include identifying computer network vulnerabilities, developing and executing a plan to secure and protect the network, and tracking computer network usage to ensure adherence to security policies. In addition, information security officers are also expected to conduct penetration tests to look for flaws and work closely with the IT and management departments to improve security.
Security engineers and information security officers have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Security Engineer | Information Security Officer | |
| Average salary | $104,524 | $135,040 |
| Salary range | Between $77,000 And $141,000 | Between $95,000 And $190,000 |
| Highest paying City | San Francisco, CA | San Francisco, CA |
| Highest paying state | California | California |
| Best paying company | ICE Mortgage Technology | Twilio |
| Best paying industry | Technology | Professional |
There are a few differences between a security engineer and an information security officer in terms of educational background:
| Security Engineer | Information Security Officer | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 63% | Bachelor's Degree, 64% |
| Most common major | Computer Science | Business |
| Most common college | Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Stanford University |
Here are the differences between security engineers' and information security officers' demographics:
| Security Engineer | Information Security Officer | |
| Average age | 42 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 86.4% Female, 13.6% | Male, 85.9% Female, 14.1% |
| 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% |