Post job

Senior cyber security analyst vs security engineer

The differences between senior cyber security 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 senior cyber security analyst and a security engineer. Additionally, a security engineer has an average salary of $104,524, which is higher than the $91,144 average annual salary of a senior cyber security analyst.

The top three skills for a senior cyber security analyst include cyber security, incident response and NIST. The most important skills for a security engineer are java, cloud security, and infrastructure.

Senior cyber security analyst vs security engineer overview

Senior Cyber Security AnalystSecurity Engineer
Yearly salary$91,144$104,524
Hourly rate$43.82$50.25
Growth rate32%32%
Number of jobs64,64986,093
Job satisfaction--
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Average age4242
Years of experience66

What does a senior cyber security analyst do?

A senior cybersecurity analyst provides assistance in designing and implementing IT security systems in organizations or companies. Senior cybersecurity analysts protect the computer networks of organizations from any cyber-attack. They respond and analyze different cyber incidents as necessary. They offer actionable investigative leads to investigators to prevent terrorist or criminal acts in the future. Also, they establish and update procedures and documentation for various duties in ISO and ITIL formats.

What does a security engineer do?

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.

Senior cyber security analyst vs security engineer salary

Senior cyber security analysts and security engineers have different pay scales, as shown below.

Senior Cyber Security AnalystSecurity Engineer
Average salary$91,144$104,524
Salary rangeBetween $69,000 And $119,000Between $77,000 And $141,000
Highest paying CitySan Mateo, CASan Francisco, CA
Highest paying stateCaliforniaCalifornia
Best paying companyNikeICE Mortgage Technology
Best paying industryHospitalityTechnology

Differences between senior cyber security analyst and security engineer education

There are a few differences between a senior cyber security analyst and a security engineer in terms of educational background:

Senior Cyber Security AnalystSecurity Engineer
Most common degreeBachelor's Degree, 61%Bachelor's Degree, 63%
Most common majorComputer Information SystemsComputer Science
Most common collegeUniversity of North Carolina at Chapel HillMassachusetts Institute of Technology

Senior cyber security analyst vs security engineer demographics

Here are the differences between senior cyber security analysts' and security engineers' demographics:

Senior Cyber Security AnalystSecurity Engineer
Average age4242
Gender ratioMale, 81.2% Female, 18.8%Male, 86.4% Female, 13.6%
Race ratioBlack 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 Percentage9%9%

Differences between senior cyber security analyst and security engineer duties and responsibilities

Senior cyber security analyst example responsibilities.

  • Research and authore white paper advocating a framework for managing risk to the most critical DoD systems.
  • Implement a manage endpoint encryption solution utilizing TrendMicro MobileArmor to secure university workstations against sensitive data loss.
  • Lead ArcSight SIEM, MacAfee HBSS, mail gateway and firewall administrator.
  • Use Splunk and FireEye CMS, among other tools for security response to triage security issues.
  • Interrogate and monitor agency network traffic using QRadar SIEM.
  • Import data sources into Splunk and write custom RegEx to parse key fields.
  • Show more

Security engineer example responsibilities.

  • Provide SME level support in a manage PKI environment.
  • Achieve authority-to-operate (ATO) status ahead of schedule.
  • Hardened/Tune a manage fleet of Cisco ASA and IPS security appliances.
  • Create custom scripts using ruby and proprietary gems to automate testing and reporting.
  • Manage CND tools team standup of multiple ArcSight logger and connector appliances according to DISA STIG requirements.
  • Manage vendor relations for VPN connectivity.
  • Show more

Senior cyber security analyst vs security engineer skills

Common senior cyber security analyst skills
  • Cyber Security, 18%
  • Incident Response, 7%
  • NIST, 6%
  • Windows, 6%
  • RMF, 5%
  • DOD, 4%
Common security engineer skills
  • Java, 9%
  • Cloud Security, 8%
  • Infrastructure, 8%
  • Application Security, 4%
  • Incident Response, 4%
  • Windows, 4%

Browse computer and mathematical jobs