During the admissions process to our Cybersecurity Bootcamp, one of the most common questions asked by our candidates is about the roles they will be able to apply for upon graduation. We have noticed that when we tell them that they can submit their resumes to work as a cybersecurity analyst or a junior cybersecurity engineer, they don’t completely understand the difference between these two options.

While there are a lot of similarities between the duties of a cybersecurity analyst and a junior cybersecurity engineer, it is important to know that there are some clear distinctions, especially when it comes to the purpose they serve.

Before jumping into the details of each role, we want you to know that the cybersecurity analyst is usually filled by people who are more analytical and eager to understand how things work and are OK with just knowing high-level material. While cybersecurity engineers are those, who want to understand why things work and want to go deeper into the specifics of what they are doing and the reasons behind it.

It’s important to understand that these two roles always have to work together to secure their organization from any potential threat or cyber-attack.

Understanding the Differences Between Both Cybersecurity Roles

A cybersecurity analyst is responsible for identifying security issues that an organization or a team might be facing. Their main job is to seek out and identify potential threats such as malware, DDoS, phishing, ransomware, and others. To detect them, they usually run tests to try to compromise their systems and identify existing vulnerabilities.

On the other hand, a cybersecurity engineer has to put different layers of protection to prevent damage from the security issues the analyst detected. They have to patch vulnerabilities, develop secure systems, and constantly make updates based on the new threats as part of their job. They do this by understanding the data the organization needs to secure, the different potential threats they face, and the latest trends in the industry.

An easier way to see these differences is that cybersecurity analysts are internal attackers constantly looking for vulnerabilities that need to be handled. Engineers are the organization’s defenders that are always putting in place new security layers.

So, when it comes to choosing what roles you want to apply for, think for a moment if you want to have an attacker profile or if you want to build systems to protect the organization. Either way, your job is highly rewarded and appreciated, especially in the world we live in now, where every 39 seconds a cyber-attack is perpetrated.