Roles and Responsibilities of a Security Architect

It wasn’t long when security was a back-seat passenger in an organization’s vehicle but the picture entirely changed due to the ongoing cyber warfare. As data became crucial to an organization, the need to secure it expanded proportionally. Today security is top-notch in any business and it has become a non-negotiable obligation. Becoming a Security Architect is a dream job for those working in the security field.

A Security Architect creates, plans, and implements security solutions for an organization. Security Architects hold a bachelor’s degree in computer science or an equivalent profession and years of expertise in the area. They are knowledgeable about computer and network systems, cybersecurity, and risk management. Additional expertise in security strategies, methodologies, and architecture is available through industry certifications, continuing education programs, and graduate degrees. Basically, a Security Architect is the person in charge of all the security pursuits.

Security Architect Career

Because security is a big concern for most businesses, it’s needless to say that demand for Security Architects is increasing. There is a panic in the cyber world as the number of cybercrimes has increased. The last decade has seen significant growth in the percentage of security jobs. However, as the experts retire and millennials fail to replace them at a corresponding rate, there appears to be a widening skills gap in the area.

According to Payscale, a Security Architect has average earnings of USD 122,634. Of course, this is subject to change depending on your experience, the region, and the skillset.

Skills of a Security Architect

A good Security Architect must not be ‘Jack of all trades but master of none’, but the person should be ‘Jack of all trades along with master of one’. The one thing that requires your excellence and expertise in this field is security. You must know all about it. Subsequently, you must also have some other skills like:

• The role necessitates excellent communication and organizational leadership abilities.
• You should have expertise in security measures such as firewalls, intrusion detection, and prevention systems (IDS/IPS), network access controls, and network segmentation.
• You must be experienced with operating systems like Windows, Linux, and UNIX.
• Network security architecture and its development are both important to understand.
• Wireless security, such as routers, switches, and VLAN security, is something that everyone should be aware of.
• DNS security principles such as routing, authentication, VPN, proxy services, and DDOS mitigation technology are all covered.
• An understanding of the ISO 27001/27002, COBIT, and ITIL frameworks are required.
• Third-party auditing skills and cloud risk assessment methodologies.

Roles of a Security Architect

The main role of a Security Architect incorporates:

1. Planning, studying and then designing a resistant security architecture for various IT projects
2. Developing prerequisites for networks, firewalls, routers, and other network devices
3. Performing vulnerability assessment, security testing, and risk analysis
4. Researching and implementing the updated security standards, systems, and best practices

Responsibilities of a Security Architect

A Security Architect is the person solely responsible for an organization’s security. Along with this, the person also looks after a lot of things. Some of the responsibilities of a Security Architect are:

1. You have to get a complete picture of the company’s technology and information systems.
2. You have to think like a hacker and find loopholes or weaknesses in the system that can put the entire network in jeopardy.
3. For all IT initiatives, you have to plan, investigate, and build reliable, powerful, and flexible security architectures.
4. You have to perform penetration tests, vulnerability testing, including risk analysis, and security assessments, on the complete infrastructure.
5. You have to investigate the latest security standards, recent security systems, and renewed authentication protocols.
6. You have to make sure that all workers follow the necessary corporate security policies and procedures that are defined, developed, implemented, and maintained for a seamless workflow.
7. You are also responsible for creating standards for all IT assets, such as routers, firewalls, LANs, WANs, VPNs, and other network devices. You have to determine their efficacy and efficiency.
8. You have to ensure that all firewalls, VPNs, routers, servers, and IDS scanning technologies are reviewed and approved before installation.
9. You have to prepare the cost estimates and other potential integration concerns for all cybersecurity measures.
10. You have to design Critical Public Infrastructures (PKIs), such as Digital Signatures and Certification Authorities (CA).
11. You have to test and ensure that the organization’s final security mechanisms work as expected.
12. You are responsible for providing security personnel with technical guidance and supervision.
13. You are supposed to take leadership of any security awareness campaigns and training activities aimed at non-IT workers in order to better equip them.
14. You have to quickly respond to any security-related issues (e.g., data breaches, viruses, phishing scams) and give a thorough post-event study once the situation has been resolved.
15. You ought to update and upgrade the organization’s security systems when required.

Security Architect with InfosecTrain

Security Architect is a senior-level profile so it is justified if the employers seek certified security credentials on your resume. Professional security training and certifications like Security+, CEH, Pentest+, and CISSP will help you advance your profession and differentiate yourself from other candidates. These certifications reaffirm the necessary capabilities for the profession of Security Architect.

Security Architects have a thorough understanding of the security world. The Security Architect career path is for you if you enjoy problem-solving and developing big-picture solutions.

AUTHOR
Devyani Bisht ( )
Content Writer

“ Devyani Bisht is a B.Tech graduate in Information Technology. She has 3.5 years of experience in the domain of Client Interaction. She really enjoys writing blogs and is a keen learner. She is currently working as a Technical Services Analyst with InfosecTrain. “