IT Security Specialist Jobs

What is an IT Security Specialist?

A Security Specialist could be responsible for all aspects of IT Security at an organisation. It is really a job description covering many of the tasks within many and varied entry to intermediate level IT Security job roles.

You may be responsible for designing, testing and Implementation of IT Security solutions as well as on-going maintenance and monitoring of live production environments.

The work may involve maintaining security software and integrating new security into an organisation using various tools and techniques including firewalls, spyware, malware detection and intrusion detection systems.

What are the typical job duties for an IT Security Specialist?

The job may involve developing automated scripts to provide intrusion detection, traffic analysis, plus virus, spyware and malware detection. You may need to provide an initial incident response together with problem solving as new IT Security related issues develop.

As an IT Security Specialist you will work to identify and mitigate against any security threats, weaknesses, bugs or exploits impacting on your organisations cyber security. This work could include software and hardware modifications and other changes such at educating your systems users in best practice methodologies with regard to data and IT Security.

You may have a role in software design, implementation and the subsequent testing of Information Technology Security related applications and tools.
Security related deployment, on-going support, user training and perhaps documentation of new processes, procedures and applications may also be part of your job role, all depending on your organisations requirements of you.

More specific Security Specialist responsibilities may include:

1) Assisting other IT Security staff in the planning, design, development, testing and implementation of all IT Security solutions at your organisation
Your wide-ranging role may well necessitate your involvement in the full project lifecycle from initial design and development of new software solutions for your organisations IT Security needs right through to production implementation into a live environment. Your role may involve liaison with all system users affected by the project.

2) Production support of your organisations live environments
You may be expected to provide production support to all live environments. You will be using your knowledge of IT security, authentication, session and communication protocols and general awareness of the environments at your organisation to get your job done. The installation and configuration of firewalls and other intrusion detection systems might be part of your role. You may also need to report on IT security incidents, performing forensic investigations of issues as they arise and reducing any threat by providing a rapid and effective response to them.

3) Testing of new IT Security Solutions
If you are involved in the full Project lifecycle then you may be involved in the testing and implementation of new solutions regarding your organisations IT Security. You may be expected to help your development teams as they create new software, ensuring a smooth migration to new solutions and helping to identify issues as they arise in testing.

4) Live environments – maintenance, training and reporting
If your role involves supporting live production environments then you may be required to carry out periodic vulnerability and penetration testing of your systems from time to time.

Training your systems users may also be necessary, along with the creation of documentation supporting both new and existing systems.
You may be expected to report to Senior IT management regarding any live issues that arise, as part of your job role. Technical reports and formal papers may need to be written relating to any test findings that you may make. Penetration and vulnerability testing of the live or production environment on a regular basis will probably be necessary in order to maintain a secure environment as new threats and exploits emerge.
You may be expected to supervise changes to live environments, with responsibility for IT security. You may also have a role in ensuring your organisation conforms to any new standards.

What hours will I work?

The job of Security Specialist is usually a daytime role, working an average 40 hours per week. Short-term IT Security Specialist Contractors and Consultants may be paid a day rate where any additional work is chargeable.

What skills do I need?

• An up to date knowledge of IT Security related hardware, software and vendor solutions
• Understanding of relevant scripting and source code programming languages, such as C#, C++, .NET, Java, Perl, PHP, Python or Ruby On Rails etc. that you will be using
• Practical experience using computer operating systems such as MS Windows, UNIX/Linux
• An analytical mind with the ability to respond quickly to issues
• You will need to be organised, efficient and able to work unsupervised under your own initiative
• Good team-worker
• Good written and verbal communication skills

What qualifications do I need?

Many employees will desire a Bachelors degree in a related field such as Computer Science, IT or a Cyber-Security related field, but this is not a necessity

Security Specialist Salary

What can you expect to earn as a Security Specialist? The position of an IT Security Specialist is an entry to intermediate level role. Salaries will of course vary depending on your experience, qualifications, the organisation and sector plus whether you are employed on a full-time, short-term Contractor or Consultant basis.

According to Payscale* Salary expectations for the role of Software Specialist are $45,340 – $112,252 or £34,876 to £86,347 at a conversion rate of 1.3 for USD/GBP.

Sources: * Payscale – http://www.payscale.com/research/US/Job=Information_Security_Specialist/Salary