Security analyst: certifications, study paths and pay
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You watch for threats and respond when something looks wrong. Entry roles often start in a security operations centre (SOC), reviewing alerts and escalating real incidents.
See practice tests for this roleWhat does it pay?
What you do
- Triage alerts and investigate suspicious activity
- Check logs and identify what happened
- Escalate and document incidents, and recommend fixes
Skills that matter
- Networking and operating system basics
- Common attack types and defences
- Reading logs
- Careful, written reporting
What does this role pay?
United States, May 2025, annual wages for the closest official occupation: Information security analysts, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Entry-level jobs usually start nearer the lower figure. Pay in Australia, the United Kingdom, Canada and other countries is different, so check local job boards and salary guides. These figures are a guide, not an offer or a promise of pay.
Practice tests that fit this role
Certifications that appear most often alongside this role. Start with the first one if you are new to it.
Study paths that lead here
Cybersecurity career path
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STUDY PATHAI governance, risk and security
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Job titles this page covers
- Cybersecurity analyst
- Help desk analyst with security duties
- IT support with security duties
- Identity and access analyst
- Identity and access analyst (junior)
- Incident responder
- Incident response analyst
- Incident response assistant
- Information security analyst
- Junior security analyst
- Network security assistant
- SOC analyst
- SOC analyst (tier 1)
- Security analyst
- Security analyst (junior)
- Security analyst on container platforms
- Security operations assistant
- Security operations lead in training
- Threat analyst
- Vulnerability analyst
- Vulnerability analyst (junior)
Employers use many names for similar work. Requirements vary by employer and country, and a certificate supports your application but does not guarantee a job.
Related roles
- Governance, risk and compliance (GRC) analyst
- Security engineer
- IT auditor
- Privacy and responsible AI specialist
- DevOps and platform engineer
- Site reliability engineer (SRE)
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