Cybercrime is booming, and companies are scrambling to protect themselves. That’s why IT security professionals are now in high demand – they’re the heroes who keep businesses safe. Curious about what they do and how you could become one? Let’s dive into the common IT security roles and responsibilities and what it takes to fill these essential positions.
Table of Contents
IT Security Roles and Responsibilities
Learn about the key IT Security roles in a company and their main responsibilities. Keep in mind that their scope depends on the company and other factors.
Application Security Engineer
Application security engineers facilitate the app creation process making sure the apps are secure. They are also in charge of controlling third-party applications that have access to company data. Their responsibilities are:
- Setting up technical security configurations properly
- Application risk assessment
- Creating allow/blacklists for apps
- Pen-testing
App Security engineers must evaluate SaaS apps to determine whether they should be blocked. We recommend using app risk assessment solutions like SpinOne:
CISO
Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) is a C-level role with a key responsibility to govern corporate security strategy. Their responsibilities are:
- Planning and controlling the implementation of a security strategy and DLP procedures
- Access management
- General compliance control
- Cyber events investigation and prevention planning
- Risk evaluation
- Managing cyber security awareness training
Data Protection Officer
GDPR mandates that companies that monitor and process large data sets on a regular basis have Data Protection Officer. A DPO makes sure that your business data protection complies with the regulations and meets security needs. These people need to have extensive knowledge of data protection and the regulations governing it.
Read more about DPO role and responsibilities here.
Network Security Engineer
Network Security Engineer works with corporate networks. The key goal is to defend them from data breaches, or other types of cyberattacks. Their responsibilities include:
- Correct setting of network security
- Pen-testing
- Creating and incorporating the cyber threats detection methods
- Making sure network security policies are implemented
- Setting up security tools and regulating their proper performance
Some companies require that Network Security Engineers understood cloud security.
IT Security Administrator
An IT security admin is in charge of the corporate data’s protection. Their responsibilities are:
- Access management
- Securing data migration
- Set up and maintenance of security tools
- Control of abnormal data behavior
- Making sure that the environment configurations comply with security policies
- Searching for potential risks and vulnerabilities in the environment
- Creating reports on security events
- Finding security automation tools
Admins play an important role in the overall security posture of a company. They are expected to understand the security architecture and be aware of all the changes that take place in it.
Security Analyst
Security Analysts have to analyze and outline the potential risks to prevent cyberattacks and insider threats. They have the following responsibilities:
- Analysis of corporate IT environment and identifying the necessary configurations for them
- DLP analysis and policy formation
- Vulnerability search and remediation
- Abnormal data behavior detection
- Making sure that company information is secure, available, and confidential
One of the possible requirements is the knowledge of white hat hacking.
Security Architect
A security architect develops a secure-by-design system. It’s a senior-level role that requires profound knowledge in many areas of corporate security, including network and hardware. The responsibilities include
- Analyzing the security architecture
- Searching for security gaps
- Organizing the transformation of IT infrastructure to match the security needs
- Making sure that the IT environment remain integrity
- Introducing the practices for insider threat control
- Purchasing new tech stack
- Disaster recovery procedures
- Analysis of cyber events and generating an incident response plan
- Cost analysis of security tools
These responsibilities vary depending on the company, industry, and other factors. For example, some businesses demand that Security Architects took care of corporate compliance (e.g., HIPAA or NIST).
Read more about compliance in cloud systems.
Security Specialist
Security Specialists must keep corporate data secured from loss or leak by ensuring that the IT environment and processes are properly configured and up-to-date. There are many subtypes of security specialists. It helps them better focus on different areas of corporate security, e.g., cloud, databases, or devices.
However, in SMB companies, these professionals have to be jack-of-all-trades and perform multiple cybersecurity responsibilities at once. You will be expected to have robust IT knowledge and advanced skills. You will also be expected to know both software and hardware.
Securing Remote Work
With the constantly changing cybersecurity landscape, the responsibilities of different IT security professionals will transform. For example, the pandemic has increased the number of remote workers, and many people aren’t ready to return to their offices. Now, IT specialists have to ensure that remote workers comply with security requirements.
Read More About The Best Security Practices of Remote Work.
