How To Become A Cyber Security Analyst In 2025

This is a complete guide to becoming a Cyber Security Analyst that includes certification details, annual salary, roles and responsibilities, etc:

It is now very important more than ever that every organization needs to protect its precious resources in terms of sensitive data from cyber-attacks. The rate of cyber-attacks keeps growing day after day and the need for cyber security professionals keeps rising.

One of the cyber security roles that are in high demand is a cyber security analyst.

In this article, we will cover the topics like the skills needed for a cyber security analyst’s role, annual salary, certifications needed that will help, etc.

Let us begin!!

How To Become A Cyber Security Analyst

The image shows the number of data breaches each year from 2012 to 2019:

[image source]

Who Is A Cyber Security Analyst?

A cyber security analyst is somebody with the primary responsibility of protecting an organization’s network from cyber-attacks.

This task involves creating contingency security plans, being current with happenings in the cyber security domain, having the necessary skills to handle sophisticated tools in combating cyber-attacks, and being able to create and champion cyber security awareness within an organization.

Cyber security analysts are always responsible for implementing security measures and controls. They can even set up a cyber-attack simulation system like conducting a penetration test within an organization to know how an attacker thinks and attack a network which will provide them the best way to go about protecting the organization from any future attacks.

One of the primary tasks is protecting an organization’s network and servers by implementing different security strategies in other to prevent any breaches that will expose a company’s digital assets.

A cyber security analyst is someone that is well-trained in hardware and software security analysts must have a deep understanding of both hardware and software and will always try to find and prevent any vulnerabilities in a network by installing endpoint protection and firewall on the network.

Requirements

While some organizations prefer people with a degree in cybersecurity or any other security-related field. But it is also very possible to become a cyber security analyst by starting in an entry-level IT role and following through to become a cybersecurity expert.

We have various security certifications you can write and also attend online boot camps that have cybersecurity courses.

Consider the following five steps as requirements:

1. Start with fundamentals in cybersecurity.
2. Practice entry-level and fundamental skills.
3. Earn yourself a certificate.
4. Continuous research on the Cybersecurity field.
5. Applying to cybersecurity jobs.

#1) Start with fundamentals

When being a cybersecurity professional, one of the first things you need to do is do research online, reading about current trends. Starting from the fundamentals is the best way to go, like getting to know about computer networking, system administration, and getting to know some threats that can harm a system or network and what to do to prevent the attack.

Learn about different threats, viruses, and vulnerabilities available. You should also be abreast with terms used within the field and also different security tools that you can use to protect your network.

#2) Practice entry-level and fundamental skills

After going through the cybersecurity fundamentals, it will be time to put your fundamental knowledge into practice. It is always recommended to set up a testing environment on your computer system where you can continuously test your fundamental skills.

Some tests you can carry out on your system are penetration testing, analyzing network traffic, and performing some web application security testing.

Aside from your computer system testing environment, there are some online training labs you can use to simulate everything that you have learned and this will provide you the opportunity to put your cybersecurity fundamental training to test before handling real-world challenges.

#3) Earn yourself with a cyber security certificate

Getting a certificate will prepare you for various opportunities that exist within the cybersecurity field. It is another way to learn about cybersecurity as we will need to prepare for the exam in other to pass the exam.

When you are certified and have the technical know-how on cybersecurity will give you an edge over others in the job market when you are applying for a cyber security analyst role.

#4) Continuous research on the cyber security field

Cybersecurity is constantly evolving, as we are innovating new ways on how to protect our network the same way cyber-attackers are also innovating new ways to attack people and bypass any defense implemented.

So it is very essential that you are always researching online about cybersecurity to know the current trends in this field which will help you know the kind of knowledge and skills to get.

#5) Applying to cyber security analyst jobs

Cyber security professionals are in high demand and the next step for you after getting the needed skills and certification is to start applying for jobs.

According to Cybersecurity Ventures, earlier predictions are that there will be 3.5 million unfilled cyber security jobs in this current year 2021 and this is true today as we have more cybersecurity jobs on the ground more than the professionals available to take up this role. Among these unfilled cybersecurity roles in the cyber security analyst role.

Roles and Responsibilities

The major function of a cyber security analyst is preparing and responding to cyber-attacks. They are not just reactive to attacks, they are also proactive in taking steps to prevent security breaches. Though sometimes their responsibilities differ from one organization to another.

The following are a few roles and responsibilities:

#1) Managing of Company’s Software: They can install, manage, and update essential software in an organization to prevent any threats to the company’s systems and networks. An example is the Operating System. They are always on the lookout for any security updates or patches.

#2) Monitoring of Company’s Network: Another major responsibility is monitoring networks and analyzing network traffics to prevent any unusual behavior on the network.

#3) Developing a Security Plan: It is very necessary to have a security plan that will include giving the best security suggestions to the company and also best data security practices for the company employees and endpoint users.

#4) Sending Reports: You will always develop security reports, documenting all the security issues within an organization and the measures taken to resolve the security issues.

#5) Making Online Research: Part of your responsibilities also involves researching current trends in the security domain. You need to stay updated with potential threats available and ways to prevent such a threat or how to resolve an issue when an attack occurs.

Necessary Skills

For you to perform well as a cyber security analyst, you need to have a wide range of skills in different areas.

Let us review some of these skills that you need to earn:

#1) Writing of Scripts and Commands

It is very necessary that you have skills in writing scripts and commands. This will help you understand some deep security situations and will help you perform some tasks that only commands and scripts can achieve. You will always use commands to perform some penetration tasks. If you are skillful at this, companies will always seek after you.

#2) Ability to conduct Ethical Hacking

If you are considering becoming a cyber security analyst, then you must think like a hacker. When you are able to think like a hacker, you will perform ethical hacking on your network or system to detect any vulnerabilities within just like a real hacker would have done to cause havoc but from your own point, you are conducting this test to block any backdoor on your network before the real actor’s strike.

#3) Networking Skills

A cyber security analyst needs to be proficient in working in a networked environment and understand how different networking tools work from hardware to software tools. Must be able to manage and monitor an entire company’s network against an intrusion.

#4) Ability to operate different OS

A cyber security analyst must have vast experience working on different operating systems like Windows, Linux, macOS, Ubuntu, and many more.

Annual Salary

The demand for cyber security analysts is on the rise because of the frequent attacks carried out. According to The Identity Theft Research Center reports that the number of data breaches so far this year has already surpassed the total number in 2020 by 17%. And this could be a record-breaking year for data compromises.

A cyber security analyst’s salary can be measured with different factors like experiences, qualifications, certifications, skills, and others. According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, the average salary is  $103,590 while the lowest 10 percent earned less than $60,060, and the highest 10 percent earned more than $163,300.

Certifications

There are many essential certifications that both Cyber Security entry-level and professionals can earn. We will review some of them below:

#1) CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+)

This is the type of certification that applies behavioral analytics to networks and devices in other to prevent, detect and fight cybersecurity threats through constant and regular security monitoring.

Website: CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+)

#2) CompTIA Security+

CompTIA Security+ is a certification that you need to have to validate your security skills that are needed to perform core security functions and pursue an IT security career.

Website: CompTIA Security+

#3) Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

If you are a Certified Ethical Hacker, you will put your hacking capabilities into ethical use in improving an organization’s security. With this certification, you will look for weaknesses and vulnerabilities in a network before an ordinary attacker would have used it to strike a network.

A Certified Ethical Hacker will always target or attack a system like a malicious hacker but in a lawful and legitimate way.

Website: Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)

#4) Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

This is a certification organized by the International Information Systems Security Certification Consortium (ISC2) which is recognized globally and is used to validate your skills in designing, building and maintaining a secure network.

Website Link: Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)

#5) Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

This is a professional certification that proofs that an individual possesses the skill and experience needed to develop and manage an entire enterprise of information security.

Website: Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)

#6) Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)

This is a certification issued by Information Systems Audit and Control Association which is recognized globally and it validates that someone is skillful and experienced in auditing, control, and security of an entire information network.

Website Link: Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)

Frequently Asked Questions

Conclusion

We have now explained who a cyber security analyst is, how to become one, the different roles and responsibilities attached to the job, the necessary skills that are needed to thrive in the role. We now know the average annual salary for a cyber security analyst and the required certifications you need to earn to become a cyber security analyst.