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IT CAREER TRACKS:

Information Security Specialist

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.


security training; security calsses; IT security;

DUTIES

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.


PREREQUISITES

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.


ADVANCEMENT

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.


Certification Examples Include:

CCSP; CISSP; CIW Security Analyst; CWNA; CWSP; i-Net+; Security+; Solaris 9 Security; SSCP; TICSA; Wireless Sharp