SYNOPSIS
An Information Security
Specialist, also known as an information security engineer, or security
administrator, is an IT professional who designs and manages an organization’s security
infrastructure. This includes choosing the network hardware and network operating
systems, locking down those systems, and staying focused on possible weaknesses
in those systems and hardening them as appropriate.
Duties of an information
security specialist include the analysis of an organization’s security risks
and requirements, rating the importance of a company’s products and services,
and the related design, implementation and maintenance of the security
infrastructure to protect the business from security breaches. This role has
overlap with that of a network engineer but is higher level in that it is a
more specialized role. A very good understanding of networking, both hardware and
operating systems, and the web is critical. As the old saying goes, bank
tellers don’t spend as much time learning about counterfeits as they do with
knowing the real thing, the same applies to security specialists: they must
have an intimate knowledge of their systems in order to best know their
weaknesses and how to overcome those weaknesses. As well, strong interpersonal
skills are also important, as security specialist must be able to convey to
management the security risks, as well as be able to keep close tabs of newly
discovered holes in their systems. They likely work in a team with other more
and less qualified security staff and so must be able to communicate both up
and down the chain of command.
A person may consider
entering this field after attaining a Computer Science or Computer Engineering
university degree or a one or two year computer diploma from a local technical
institute. However, some information security specialists may also have a
technically related MBA degree. Either way, a lot of dedicated training and
related certification in one or more leading network operating systems is highly
recommended as is training and certification on network equipment and protocols.
Optimally, security specific certification should be pursued. As well, this
person should be proactive when it comes to applying security patches and the
like but should also be prudent by being in the habit of ensuring that patches
are first tried out in a test environment and by ensuring that data backup and
disaster recovery plans are in place and followed as required. Candidates for
this job role should also be exceptional troubleshooters in order to help them
discern between security breaches and more innocent technical bugs.
An information security
specialist often starts out as a network engineer and may move on to more
specialized roles within the security or educational realm, such as information
security architect, or else move towards IT management. Whichever path they
take, these professionals tend to be at the high end of the IT pay scale.
Salary information is so
dependent on an IT professional’s particular skill set, experience and geographic
location. However, experienced information security specialists can attain
salaries of $70,000 or $80,000 USD or higher.  |
