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The differences between security specialists and cyber security analysts can be seen in a few details. Each job has different responsibilities and duties. Additionally, a cyber security analyst has an average salary of $88,422, which is higher than the $49,892 average annual salary of a security specialist.
The top three skills for a security specialist include ladders, security incidents and physical security. The most important skills for a cyber security analyst are incident response, windows, and SIEM.
| Security Specialist | Cyber Security Analyst | |
| Yearly salary | $49,892 | $88,422 |
| Hourly rate | $23.99 | $42.51 |
| Growth rate | 3% | 32% |
| Number of jobs | 96,226 | 64,387 |
| Job satisfaction | - | - |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Years of experience | - | 6 |
A security specialist is responsible for maintaining the security of an organization's database, ensuring that it's free from cyber threats and unusual activities. Security specialists' duties include upgrading hardware and software applications, configuring networks to improve optimization, addressing any unauthorized access on the database, troubleshooting system discrepancies, conducting security audits on the system, and improving automated processes. A security specialist must have a strong command of programming languages and system codes, as well as broad experience with technical expertise.
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.
Security specialists and cyber security analysts have different pay scales, as shown below.
| Security Specialist | Cyber Security Analyst | |
| Average salary | $49,892 | $88,422 |
| Salary range | Between $25,000 And $98,000 | Between $66,000 And $117,000 |
| Highest paying City | Washington, DC | Los Angeles, CA |
| Highest paying state | New York | Oregon |
| Best paying company | Okta | Neighborly |
| Best paying industry | - | Automotive |
There are a few differences between a security specialist and a cyber security analyst in terms of educational background:
| Security Specialist | Cyber Security Analyst | |
| Most common degree | Bachelor's Degree, 48% | Bachelor's Degree, 61% |
| Most common major | Criminal Justice | Computer Information Systems |
| Most common college | - | California State University - Bakersfield |
Here are the differences between security specialists' and cyber security analysts' demographics:
| Security Specialist | Cyber Security Analyst | |
| Average age | 43 | 42 |
| Gender ratio | Male, 74.0% Female, 26.0% | Male, 78.5% Female, 21.5% |
| Race ratio | Black or African American, 13.5% Unknown, 5.3% Hispanic or Latino, 19.2% Asian, 5.8% White, 54.6% American Indian and Alaska Native, 1.6% | 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 | 6% | 9% |