Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for IT Security Analyst

🎯 Role Definition

The IT Security Analyst is a hands-on cybersecurity professional responsible for protecting corporate information assets, detecting and responding to threats, and strengthening the security posture across networks, endpoints, cloud workloads and applications. This role partners with IT, engineering, and compliance teams to operate Security Operations Center (SOC) tooling, investigate security incidents, perform vulnerability assessments and implement remediation workflows. Ideal candidates demonstrate strong technical capabilities (SIEM, EDR, IDS/IPS, IAM, cloud security), proven incident response experience, and a security-minded approach to automation, documentation, and continuous improvement.

Primary SEO keywords: IT Security Analyst, incident response, vulnerability management, SIEM, SOC analyst, cloud security, endpoint protection, threat hunting, NIST, ISO 27001.

📈 Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

Junior SOC Analyst / SOC Tier 1 Analyst
Network Administrator or Systems Administrator transitioning to security
IT Support or Desktop Support with security incident exposure

Advancement To:

Senior IT Security Analyst / SOC Tier 3 Analyst
Incident Response Team Lead or SOC Team Lead
Security Engineer / Cloud Security Engineer
Security Architect or Security Operations Manager

Lateral Moves:

Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC) Analyst
Threat Intelligence Analyst
Penetration Tester / Red Team Operator

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

Monitor, triage and investigate alerts from the Security Information and Event Management (SIEM) platform and other telemetry sources (EDR, firewall logs, IDS/IPS, proxy, cloud logs), performing root cause analysis and documenting findings, impact and recommended mitigations in a timely manner.
Lead and execute digital incident response activities including containment, eradication, recovery and post-incident root cause analysis for security incidents affecting endpoints, servers, cloud workloads, and network devices.
Conduct vulnerability scanning, risk rating, and remediation verification across servers, workstations, cloud instances and enterprise applications using industry tools (e.g., Nessus, Qualys, Rapid7), and coordinate remediation plans with system owners.
Perform proactive threat hunting using logs, network captures, endpoint telemetry, and threat intelligence feeds to identify stealthy or novel adversary activity and produce actionable detection content.
Develop, tune and maintain detection rules, correlation searches, dashboards and alerts in the SIEM to reduce false positives and increase signal fidelity for the SOC.
Operate and maintain endpoint detection & response (EDR) platforms (e.g., CrowdStrike, Carbon Black, SentinelOne) including policy configuration, alert investigation, quarantines, and rollback actions.
Manage and respond to phishing and social engineering incidents, including triage of suspicious emails, URL and attachment analysis, user notifications and credential resets when required.
Manage identity and access security functions including monitoring privileged account activity, reviewing anomalous authentication patterns, and assisting with multi-factor authentication (MFA) and identity lifecycle controls.
Execute malware analysis and sandboxing of suspicious files and attachments, producing technical reports and IOC (Indicator of Compromise) artifacts for distribution to relevant stakeholders.
Maintain and operate cloud-native security controls and logs (AWS CloudTrail, Azure Monitor, GCP Stackdriver), perform cloud security configuration reviews, and support cloud incident investigations involving misconfigurations or unauthorized access.
Support secure configuration and hardening efforts by applying CIS Benchmarks, company baseline configurations, and documenting deviations or compensating controls.
Participate in change control and patch management processes by validating security impact, testing patches in staging, and confirming successful deployment across environments.
Conduct periodic security assessments, gap analyses and risk-based reviews aligned with frameworks such as NIST CSF, ISO 27001 and CIS Controls to guide remediation priorities.
Collaborate with application development and DevOps teams to integrate security into CI/CD pipelines, automate security testing, and deploy Infrastructure as Code (IaC) security checks.
Produce and maintain runbooks, playbooks and knowledgebase articles for incident response, escalation procedures and post-mortem learnings to improve SOC efficiency and consistency.
Coordinate with third-party vendors and MSSPs for threat intelligence, managed detection services, forensic support and vulnerability remediation tracking.
Prepare and present technical findings, incident summaries and metrics to technical and non-technical stakeholders, including executives, legal, and compliance teams.
Participate in tabletop exercises, simulated incident drills and purple-team engagements to validate detection and response capabilities and improve organizational readiness.
Maintain and audit logs retention, integrity and access controls for forensic readiness and regulatory compliance (HIPAA, PCI-DSS, SOX, GDPR) as applicable.
Create and execute threat modeling and attack pathway assessments for critical systems to identify high-risk exposures and prioritize mitigations.
Configure and manage network security controls (firewalls, segmentation, web proxies) and collaborate on design changes to reduce attack surface and lateral movement opportunities.
Track and report security metrics and KPIs (MTTR, detection coverage, mean time to detect, patch compliance) to drive continuous improvement of security operations.
Review and approve security exceptions and compensating controls while maintaining traceable documentation and expirations in governance systems.
Evaluate and recommend new security tools, automation playbooks, and orchestration (SOAR) integrations to improve detection, investigation and response efficiency.

Secondary Functions

Provide timely security advisory and remediation guidance to system owners and business units following vulnerability scans or security incidents.
Support security awareness campaigns, phishing simulations and training initiatives to reduce human risk and improve employee reporting.
Assist in procurement and technical evaluation of security products by running proof-of-concepts and documenting operational requirements.
Help maintain asset inventories and data classification mappings to ensure accurate scope for security monitoring and compliance audits.
Support ad-hoc forensic collections, evidence preservation and coordination with legal or law enforcement when required.
Contribute to security policy, standards and procedure updates to reflect new threats, regulations and internal process improvements.
Participate in cross-functional project teams to validate security requirements and design secure architectures for new initiatives.
Mentor junior analysts, provide shift handovers, and help build analyst onboarding materials and training paths.
Create and improve automation scripts (Python, PowerShell, Bash) to streamline repetitive triage and enrichment tasks for faster investigations.
Maintain current awareness of threat actor campaigns, industry breaches, CVEs and relevant intelligence sources to proactively adapt defenses.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

Security Information and Event Management (SIEM): experience implementing, tuning and writing correlation rules for platforms such as Splunk, IBM QRadar, Microsoft Sentinel, or ArcSight.
Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR): hands-on configuration, investigation, and remediation with tools like CrowdStrike Falcon, Carbon Black, SentinelOne or Microsoft Defender for Endpoint.
Incident Response & Forensics: practical experience performing containment, evidence collection, malware analysis, host and network forensics, and producing incident reports.
Vulnerability Management: performing authenticated/unauthenticated scans, vulnerability triage, CVSS-based risk rating, and tracking remediation workflows using tools like Nessus, Qualys or Rapid7.
Network & Perimeter Security: working knowledge of firewalls (Palo Alto, Cisco ASA, Fortinet), IDS/IPS, VPNs, and secure network segmentation strategies.
Cloud Security: familiarity with AWS/Azure/GCP security services, cloud-native logging, cloud identity controls (IAM), and securing workloads and containers.
Identity & Access Management (IAM): strong understanding of authentication protocols (SAML, OAuth, OIDC), MFA deployment, and privilege access management concepts.
Scripting & Automation: ability to write scripts (Python, PowerShell, Bash) to automate triage, enrichment and remediation tasks; familiarity with SOAR platforms (Phantom, Demisto).
Security Frameworks & Compliance: working knowledge of NIST CSF, ISO 27001, CIS Controls, PCI-DSS, HIPAA or GDPR requirements and audit support.
Threat Intelligence & Hunting: experience consuming threat feeds, creating IOCs, and performing hypothesis-driven threat hunts across telemetry sources.
Application Security Basics: understanding of common web vulnerabilities (OWASP Top 10), secure coding principles, and familiarity with SAST/DAST tools.
Log Management & Parsing: strong skills in log parsing, regular expressions, and building efficient search queries for large datasets.

(At least 10 of the above are commonly listed on job openings; tailor to employer needs.)

Soft Skills

Strong analytical and investigative mindset with attention to detail and an evidence-driven approach.
Clear written and verbal communication to explain technical incidents and risk to non-technical stakeholders and executives.
Ability to prioritize high-severity incidents under pressure and manage multiple investigations simultaneously.
Collaborative team player who partners with IT, engineering, legal, and business units to implement security controls.
Continuous learner mentality—keeps up with emerging threats, new tools, certifications and industry best practices.
Problem solving and critical thinking with the ability to produce concise post-incident action plans and drive remediation.
Time management and process-oriented approach to maintain operational discipline in a 24x7 SOC environment.
Coaching and mentoring skills to develop junior analysts and share knowledge across the team.
Strong ethical standards and respect for confidentiality when handling sensitive data and investigations.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

Bachelor's degree in Computer Science, Information Security, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, Network Engineering, or related technical discipline; or equivalent professional experience.

Preferred Education:

Master's degree in Cybersecurity, Information Assurance, or related field preferred for senior roles.
Relevant certifications such as CISSP, CISM, GCIA, GCIH, CEH, CompTIA Security+, AWS/Azure/GCP security certs, or SANS GIAC certifications are highly desirable.

Relevant Fields of Study:

Computer Science
Cybersecurity / Information Security
Information Systems / Management Information Systems (MIS)
Network Engineering / Telecommunications
Digital Forensics / Computer Science with Security Concentration

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range: 2 – 5 years of dedicated IT security, SOC or incident response experience for mid-level IT Security Analyst roles.

Preferred: 3 – 7+ years with demonstrable hands-on incident response, SIEM and EDR operations, vulnerability management, cloud security experience, and evidence of leading incident investigations or threat hunting engagements. Senior roles may require prior SOC Tier 2/3 experience or ownership of security program initiatives.