How to Become a Security Engineer

Security engineering provides diverse career paths, continuous learning, and the opportunity to tackle complex challenges, contributing to the protection of digital assets and infrastructure, making the career both financially rewarding and personally fulfilling.

Plus, with an average salary of £45,170 ($51,101), it’s an attractive field for those interested in technology, problem-solving, and protecting digital assets!

In this guide, we dive into the career paths you can take to become a Security Engineer, including our top tips from our in-house experts!

What is a Security Engineer?

A Security Engineer’s primary goal is to protect the organisation's digital assets, sensitive information, and technology infrastructure from unauthorised access, data breaches, cyber attacks, and other security threats.

They specialise in designing, implementing, and maintaining security measures and protocols of an organisation's computer systems, networks, and applications, with a variety of responsibilities and goals within the Security Engineer job description.

Security Engineer roles and responsibilities

Key responsibilities of a Security Engineer include:

Security Architecture: Designing and implementing security architectures and solutions, including selecting and configuring security technologies like firewalls, intrusion detection/prevention systems, encryption mechanisms, etc.
Security Auditing and Compliance: Conducting security audits to ensure compliance with relevant regulations, industry standards, and internal security policies
Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing: Identifying vulnerabilities in systems, networks, and applications to discover weaknesses that could be exploited by malicious actors
Security Monitoring: Monitoring systems and networks for suspicious activities or unauthorised access
Incident Response: Developing and implementing incident response plans to appropriately handle security breaches, including containment, eradication, and recovery
Network Security: Implementing measures to protect networks from unauthorised access, data interception, and other threats
Application Security: Identifying and mitigating vulnerabilities in applications through performing code reviews, conducting secure coding training, and implementing tools
Security Patching and Updates: Keeping systems up to date with the latest security patches and updates to address known vulnerabilities
Research and Development: Staying informed about the latest trends, technologies, and threats in the cyber security landscape

Security Engineer salaries

How much does a Security Engineer make? Security Engineer salary earnings vary depending on the location, experience, and employer.

In the UK, Security Engineers can expect an average salary of £45,170 after some experience. Experienced Security Engineers can expect to earn £50,000 upwards. Meanwhile, Security Engineers in the United States can earn an average salary of $51,101.

How to become a Cyber Security Engineer

Security Engineer qualifications

Getting certified with relevant qualifications can be a fantastic way to prove your skills and knowledge, however, cyber security certifications are not required across all fields of cyber security.

If you do decide to obtain certifications, the CompTIA Security+, CompTIA Network+, CISA, CISM, and CISSP are highly recommended!

Keeping up with the industry

There are various ways to keep track of the latest security threats, vulnerabilities, and industry best practices. Some useful resources include OWASP’s Top Ten and the CVE database, which covers the latest vulnerabilities identified in the wild and by security researchers.

For industry best practices, frameworks are created by organisations such as NIST and ISO that help us stay up to date with the latest in the industry.

Gaining experience

It may seem like Security Engineer roles require several years of experience, but there are plenty of ways to gain experience!

Internships, volunteering, and work placements are all incredible ways to build up hands-on experience, meanwhile, many professionals decide to start in a role related to network or security, before working their way up. Participating in ‘Capture the Flag’ (CTF) challenges is another way of practicing your skills and improving your problem-solving abilities in a simulated environment.

Top tip! Check out this GitHub repository to discover available internship opportunities near you.

Transitioning from similar roles

Some Security Engineer roles will prefer you have a background in IT and cyber security, which is why transitioning from similar roles is an excellent route to take! Transitioning from similar roles can also help you build your portfolio and find connections to offer you advice and guidance.

Many Security Engineers start out in entry-level IT positions, or as a Cyber Security Analyst, Penetration Tester, Security Technician, or Systems Administrator, to name just a few.

Having an ‘analyst’ foundation

It’s important to have a good security analyst foundation to understand how to monitor and investigate security events, respond to potential threats, triage and escalate incidents. For this reason, our SOC Level 1 learning path equips you with the pre-requisite technical knowledge and skills to build these foundational skills.

Develop your skillset

Some useful background skills to have include configuring VMs, understanding network protocols and architecture, Linux, and some basic scripting/programming knowledge such as Python, Bash, and PowerShell.

A Security Engineer typically should have an understanding of following concepts:

Security Engineer training

Our Security Engineer learning path teaches you the baseline skills for system security engineer and/or software security engineer roles.

This path includes:

Introductory topics, such as discussing career journeys available to security engineers and security fundamentals required to be successful in this role
Network, system, and software security engineering introductions, with a focus on security architecture, hardening, and understanding threats and vulnerabilities affecting these assets
Discussion on threats and risks, involving topics such as risk management and threat modelling, equipping you with the necessary analysis skills
Incident response skills important for Security Engineers, including understanding your role as a first responder and cyber crisis management.

Learn more about how the Security Engineer training can benefit you!