45 Cybersecurity Roles

The Application Security Engineer develops and tests security components that make an application more secure. They proactively test their security posture from an attacker's perspective, help shape engineering best practices, improve and drive application security monitoring, and work with the security team to educate engineers on emerging threats.

Cloud Security Engineers are responsible for the secure operations of cloud infrastructure, platforms, and software, including the installation, maintenance, and improvement of cloud computing environments. They also help develop new designs and security strategies across cloud-based applications, including infrastructure, platform, and SaaS.

Insider Threat Analysts are responsible for collecting and assessing potential threats from within an organization, whether they’re from employees, business partners, or third-party vendors. They analyze these threats, identifying trends and patterns in threat data and finding any policy violations before disseminating and presenting their findings to key stakeholders.

Cyber Threat Intelligence Analysts use their expert knowledge of malicious software to research and analyze cyber threats, reporting their findings to business leaders, using this intelligence to predict similar attacks, and ultimately helping to counter the activities of cybercriminals for their organization.

Cybersecurity Administrators typically work as part of a team to cover all the digital security needs of an organization. The role varies with the size and nature of the organization, but in general, Security Administrators ensure the safety of the organization’s data. They are tasked with managing the safety of the business’ systems, networks, applications, devices, hardware, and software.

Cybersecurity Specialists take charge of their organization’s cybersecurity, or an aspect of cybersecurity, improving existing infrastructure, suggesting improvements, and staying current on new threats and solutions. By taking responsibility for their organization’s cybersecurity, Security Specialists secure company data and protect against cyberattacks and the subsequent reputational damage.

The Data Loss Prevention Engineer is responsible for the daily operation, maintenance, and monitoring of a Data Loss Prevention (DLP) system. The DLP solution may be Endpoint DLP, Network DLP, Discovery, or Cloud DLP. The proper development, care, and administration of the DLP environment is the responsibility of the DLP Engineer, as well as responding to the alerts that the tool generates.

The Data Security Engineer supports an organization’s cybersecurity roadmap by ensuring that data is secured through testing, implementation, design, and monitoring. They liaise with business stakeholders as the data security expert, enabling compliance with the relevant cybersecurity laws and frameworks.

IAM Engineers implement and continuously optimize Identity and Access Management services in line with evolving technologies and security regulations. They are responsible for designing, implementing, and maintaining IAM technologies to ensure audit and privacy compliance, driving automation wherever possible. IAM Engineers also assist with resolving any security issues related to IAM operations.

PKI Professionals are responsible for supporting public key infrastructure systems, both internally and externally. They provide the senior engineering and design support required to build and maintain PKI systems, consulting on applications to prevent fraud and mitigate risk.

The Security Analyst is responsible for enhancing their organization's cybersecurity posture by monitoring and responding to threats, implementing or enhancing security solutions such as firewalls, endpoint security, and security event monitoring.

Security Engineers develop and maintain the systems that keep sensitive data safe from breaches and leaks. These professionals play a pivotal role in protecting an organization’s data, reputation, and finances by working with penetration testers, security analysts, and technology managers to secure data, as well as installing firewalls and other breach detection systems.

Vulnerability/Threat Management Analysts are responsible for maintaining all vulnerability or threat management solutions, ensuring that all assets and systems are scanned for vulnerabilities regularly. They then need to bring any findings to the attention of the business while working within the cybersecurity department to prioritize and remediate threats.

A Cybersecurity Professor or Instructor is responsible for developing and using effective teaching strategies to educate students of abilities on the subject of cybersecurity. These professionals may work at training institutions, undergraduate or graduate level, or assist in research in their specialism. By educating others on aspects of cybersecurity, Professors and Instructors act as an ambassador for the industry.

Cybersecurity Technical Writers create and oversee cybersecurity content, whether it’s composing reports, synthesizing data, creating manuals, or editing cybersecurity policies to resonate with the target audience. These professionals convert strategy into actionable steps or digestible copy, working with the organization’s needs and cybersecurity goals in mind to plan and proofread technical documentation. Technical writers can successfully expound on a variety of topics so that other professionals can easily understand and further use the company documentation they write.

The Cyber Risk Analyst supports the analysis, classification, and response to cybersecurity risks within an organization. This professional addresses cybersecurity risk and analyzes the potential business and customer risk, aligning processes and controls to the relevant frameworks and internal systems. The Cyber Risk Analyst is able to identify areas of concern for their specific organization, supporting resolution and mitigation by providing advice and recommendations.

A Privacy or Cybersecurity Attorney advises on implementing the right processes to meet state, federal and international legal requirements relevant to personal data. They also represent clients before regulatory bodies and help prepare the right responses and reactions during incident response to mitigate loss and ensure legal compliance.

Data Privacy Officers oversee data privacy and protection policies to ensure that the entire organization processes the personal data of their customers, employees, and partners, in accordance with company policies and regulatory compliance requirements. The introduction of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) brought international visibility to the importance of the Data Privacy Officer position, as this enterprise leadership role is required for GDPR compliance in certain businesses.

Governance Risk and Compliance Analysts ensure that an organization’s operations and procedures meet government and industry compliance standards. They research regulations and policies on behalf of the enterprise, communicate the necessary requirements, apply for certifications, and serve as a subject matter expert on all compliance-related matters.

A Privacy Analyst manages the legal and operational risks around sensitive and critical information assets by assessing business operations on a continual basis, developing the right policies, procedures, and training programs, and overseeing all data agreements. Privacy Analysts might focus on the general operations of a business, or on privacy as it relates to specific projects.

The C-suite are executives in an organisation, the “C” representing the word “chief”. These roles are responsible for leading the business and its respective departments. Each executive-level employee should be an expert in their own field.

A Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) develops information security policies and procedures for a business or organization. They manage teams of security analysts, information security specialists, and fellow executives to identify and manage security threats for the business. CISOs work in organizations across all sectors, carefully monitoring for security vulnerabilities and allocating resources to increase efficacy and efficiency.

The Chief Security Officer (CSO) leads operational security and risk management activities with the aim of enhancing the value of the organization. Reporting directly to the CEO, the CSO manages a team of security professionals who safeguard the company’s assets, intellectual property, and systems, as well as the physical safety of employees and customers. Unlike the CISO, the CSO is responsible for the physical security, data privacy and the safety of employees, assets, and facilities.

The Cybersecurity Director is a senior level role, responsible for overseeing an organization’s overall cybersecurity. The role supervises aspects of IT security including design, development, implementation, incident response, budgets, and adherence to various regulations. The Cybersecurity Director contributes to overall cybersecurity strategy by identifying growth opportunities based on the latest threats, as well as managing security personnel and reporting on the company’s cybersecurity posture.

The Cybersecurity Lead heads up the cybersecurity team, or a specific department within the cybersecurity team, responsible for ensuring that teams are working towards the right goals efficiently. Cybersecurity Leads oversee the delivery of services, manage relationships, and take control of any issues in their department or specialism.

Cybersecurity Managers run security-related operations within their department. They supervise analysts and administrators, taking responsibility for the cybersecurity team while dealing with high-level security issues. These professionals are critical to their organizations’ success as they oversee the operational side of threat detection and cyber defense, ensuring that the business’ data, financial assets, and customer information stays safe.

By identifying and attempting to breach weaknesses in an existing system, Penetration Testers help organizations resolve security vulnerabilities and weaknesses. These systems include websites, data storage systems, and other IT assets. This testing simulates cyberattacks and other breaches designed to access valuable sensitive data. Pen Testers can then document their actions to generate detailed findings and remediation reports.

A Red Team assessment is far more targeted than penetration testing. A Red Teamer's responsibility is not to find as many vulnerabilities as possible, but to access sensitive information that achieves their unique goal. They do this by acting as swiftly and quietly as possible, emulating a malicious actor. Red Team assessments are employed to rigorously test an organization’s detection and response capabilities.

A Cybersecurity Threat Hunter is responsible for detecting and identifying highly advanced cyber threats that cannot be detected by automatic or programmatic solutions. They search for and track hidden threats before they attack, rather than addressing incidents that have already happened, like the Incident Response team. These threats can be posed by insiders, such as employees, or outsiders, like organized crime groups.

The Cybersecurity Advisor guides the security solutions that are right for their organization. They work closely with architects to identify security requirements, produce risk assessments, and deliver solutions that are secure and comply with the right frameworks while allowing the business to grow and meet changing customer requirements.

Cybersecurity Program Managers manage a variety of projects within their organization, facilitating the planning and prioritization of complex cybersecurity services. These projects may be complex and span many offices, departments, and entities. The projects they manage may be short-term or long-term and could include significant business and technology changes.

Cybersecurity Project Managers work with technical specialists to complete cybersecurity projects for their organization. This includes defining the scope of a project, creating and managing the project plan, identifying key stakeholders, managing the budget, ensuring all work is compliant with the relevant security standards, and completing the project within the deadline.

Security architects combine extensive hardware and software knowledge with policy development to anticipate cyber threats and design the systems that detect and prevent them. When new networks are developed, a security architect is needed to oversee the network build and ensure that the best defensive measures are implemented from day one.

The Cybersecurity Software Engineer is a key part of the entire software program lifecycle. They participate in the design, development, testing, and implementation of technologies to best meet the organization’s cybersecurity needs and business goals. Software Engineers are primarily responsible for the safety and efficacy of software, continually carrying out upgrades and testing. They may work as part of a software development team with other cybersecurity professionals or build each part of an application or program independently.

DevSecOps (Development, Security, and Operations) professionals use a combination of programming knowledge, threat management, and communication skills to automate and integrate cybersecurity at every stage of the SDLC lifecycle.

Product Security Engineers work closely with software engineering and product teams to achieve product and security business objectives. They support the implementation of secure development practices, threat modeling, architecture, design, vulnerability assessments and security verification, as well as defining the security standards for a variety of products and tools.

Cryptologists ensure safe communication within governments, businesses, and non-profit settings by writing ciphers, algorithms, and security protocols to encrypt data. Cryptanalysts then break down existing code to decrypt and access information. As security breaches continue to attack financial institutions, government agencies, and the business sector, cryptology professionals are vital in keeping valuable information safe.

A Cyber Data Scientist helps transform the decisions made by the cybersecurity teams by collecting and scrutinizing data, before asking the right questions and connecting the dots to uncover exactly how to use that data. These professionals work closely with data specialists and system experts to ensure a high quality of data to present back to the executive board and C-Suite.

A Security Researcher stays informed on the current, new and emerging technology, proposed standards, and threat actors that could be used to exploit application and system vulnerabilities. They then examine its functions and present these findings to their organization or a larger audience, often creating proof of concept exploits as well. These professionals are immersed in technology with a desire to understand the inner workings of the research subject matter and other cybersecurity threats.

A Digital Forensic is part of the cybersecurity and investigation teams, responsible for acquiring and analyzing information and applying advanced analysis skills to support or contest cyber event timelines. They often work to recover hidden, encrypted, or deleted information to safeguard the integrity of data.

Incident Responders protect and improve an organization’s security by addressing and managing the activities to recover from a cybersecurity event. The Incident Responder makes an assessment on threat severity, conducts investigations, and works to contain, eradicate and recover from threats.

Reverse Engineers, also known as Malware Analysts, use decompiling, disassembling, and de-obfuscating to gain a deeper understanding of how and what a malicious software operates. They identify, examine, and understand various forms of malicious software, such as adware, bots, rootkits, spyware, ransomware, Trojan horses, viruses, and worms.

Cybersecurity Insurance Professionals use their industry knowledge to provide guidance on cybersecurity insurance claims, determining the most suitable coverage and policies. They inform the relevant parties of any potential problems with claims, maintaining regular contact with clients to build trust.

Cybersecurity Sales Professionals are responsible for all stages of the sales cycle, generating and qualifying new opportunities, and managing them through the sales process to close. Sales Professionals build new client relationships and maintain existing ones, analyzing the market in order to establish competitive advantages and find the best route to a sale.

A Cybersecurity Sales Engineer actively drives and manages the technology evaluation stage of the sales process, working with the entire sales team to advise on all product sales. Cybersecurity Sales Engineers unite technical knowledge and sales skills and are able to explain, in detail, the technical and functional aspects of a product or service, prepared for any technical questions or issues that may arise.