Every organization has sensitive information about its customers, products, investors, financial models and a lot more. The role of the information security analyst is to keep such sensitive information safe and secure. The company’s security system is monitored by the information security analyst. He or she works in various departments and checks for the flaws in the security system, and corrects them as well. Creating the company’s security system, proposing security solutions, recommending measures to keep the information secure are just a few of the responsibilities of the Information Security Analyst in an organization. The overall security of the company lies in the hands of the information security analyst.
All organizations are very careful about their digital data, and an information security analyst ensures no unauthorized access to the data is permitted. He or she secures the data online, and that exists inside the organization and catches and prevents any suspicious activity even before a breach happens. An analyst of information security also evaluates the security policies and checks their efficiency. If required, he or she modifies the policies and helps in maintaining a secured network. He or she is also responsible for ensuring that the security policies and measures are up to date. To emphasize the same, the security analysts conduct meetings and training sessions across departments and educate the employees.
Here is a list of the responsibilities of the information security analysts:
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Monitor the security breaches, document them and identify the intensity of damage
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To protect vital data of the organization by using firewalls and security software
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Keeping the security trends up to date across all departments
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Documenting the breaches, damage, and measures taken
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Improving the security policies and enhancing the methods
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Taking care of internal and external security audits
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Identifying the root cause and analysing the security issues based on them
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Guiding new employees and amateur computer users in the organization about the security measures and how to avoid a breach.
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Keeping themselves updated about the new security measures and technology
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Coming up with a disaster recovery plan that comes in handy during emergencies
Types of Information Security Analyst:
In an organization, the nature of business decides if there should be different types of security analysts employed, or there is an overlap of the roles. These are the popular types of security analysts.
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Application Security Analyst: An Application Security Analyst examines the security system, and scans the web applications. He or she identifies the vulnerabilities in the process and ensures the information and proprietary of the company are safe and secure. He or she is adept in penetration testing and fixing vulnerabilities. The prime duty of the application security analyst is to prevent unauthorized loss of data.
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Data Security Analyst: Wherever the computer systems are used, the role of data security analyst is inevitable. He or she should ensure the information stored on the computers is secure, and safeguard the data in the enterprise network. It is the analyst’s prime duty to ensure the data is not modified by unauthorized people. He or she also undertakes the tasks of designing, implementing, and enforcing the security policies. Also, it is the analyst’s job to check the maintenance of the same.
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Security Compliance Analyst: A few industries like health insurance are very strict about compliance since a huge amount of public money and trust is at stake. The breach of data can mean the end of the business. So, the information security analysts here have more work and take the role of a security compliance analyst as well. They supervise the management activities and maintenance of the systems. They are responsible for training the staff, ensuring that the best practices are followed and developing a strong plan to counter any serious disruption of data. They have to take care of gap analysis and risk analysis to identify chances of vulnerabilities. Working with the key management personnel and taking care of the networks’ compliance. These analysts are also responsible for risk management strategy development.
What makes a good information security analyst profile?
When you create a profile for an information security analyst position in an organization, it is a must to include certain information such as –
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Your educational qualifications in detail
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Additional certifications in the security analysis niche
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Technical skills – from programming software to basic computer skills
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Previous experience in detail
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Endorsements and references from previous employers
What are the skill sets required for a good information security analyst?
You need to have the following skills and qualities to achieve great heights in your career as an information security analyst:
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Technical knowledge- Cyber security needs to be monitored constantly, and needs to be updated consistently. An information security analyst must have thorough technical knowledge to come up with solutions for any problems the organisation may face.
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Analytical Skills- Strong analytical skills are required for information security analysts. This helps to read the computer system, and find any potential vulnerability. Then they need to find the apt solution as well.
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Effective communication skills- Educating the users and ensuring the importance of cyber security and information security is understood by all the employees of the organization is also one of the biggest responsibilities. So it is essential that the information security analysts have effective oral and written communication skills to interact with the teams.
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Administering information security systems and controls
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Creating, modifying and updating intrusion detection system
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Being creative is crucial for information security analysts. They should be able to predict cyber security attacks and stay a step ahead.
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An eye for detail
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Defining process for management network system
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Familiar with security regulations
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Security efficiency improvement
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Data encryption programs and firewall installation
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Maintaining security records
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Remediating security issues
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Security monitoring performance
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Hacker intrusion prevention
These are a few skills you need to hone if you want to be a good information security analyst.
Keywords –
Information security
Security analyst
IS analyst
IT analyst
Information security jobs