Become a SOC Analyst - Level 1
Accelerate your SOC Analyst journey by developing skills in critical areas like log analysis and SOC Operations, while preparing for Security+ certification..
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A Security Operations Center Analyst (SOC Analyst) stands as a front line of defense against the ever present cyber threats faced by organizations today. A SOC team ensures an organization’s digital assets remain secure and protected from unauthorized access by monitoring and responding to massive amounts of data in record time. In this role, you will protect your organization’s infrastructure by monitoring data to identify suspicious activity, then mitigating risks before a breach occurs. Cybrary's Become a SOC Analyst - Level 1 career path will equip you to break into the field with skills aligned to the US National Institute of Standards and Technology's Cyber Defense Analyst NICE work role.
Frequently Asked Questions
As a SOC analyst, your primary duty is to ensure that the organization’s digital assets are secure and protected from unauthorized access. You protect both the online and on-premise infrastructures, monitor metrics and data to identify suspicious activity, and identify and mitigate risks before adversaries breach your system. Some adversaries will still breach your system, and a SOC analyst fights the frontline battle.
No. Being a SOC Analyst is more than just network monitoring. SOC analysts must also generate reports for managers and IT administrators to evaluate the effectiveness of current security protocols. They also make any necessary modifications to establish a more secure network. In some roles, your duties will include creating training programs and curriculum to educate other employees and network users on proper security policies and procedures.
Candidates for a SOC analyst position must have analytical skills, communication skills, and the desire to stay up-to-date on the latest technology. In this role, you may need to sift through huge amounts of information to identify threats or other security issues. Threats and attacks can happen at any time, day or night, so you may need to the dependability and flexibility to work nights and weekends.
No two days are alike in a security operations center – adversaries don’t follow a specific schedule, and how much time you have to spend on an individual incident can depend on many factors. You may be able to circumvent an attack quickly in some cases, while others might take much more time, attention, and work. On a daily basis, you will need to ascertain the weaknesses of hardware, software, and network infrastructure and establish ways to protect it. But the nature of information security means each day may bring different situations, tasks, and challenges, so you’ll rarely feel bored. When a threat or an attack arises, your team will likely work nonstop to expose the attack, shut down access to your systems, resolve the issue, work to prevent the same type of attack from happening in the future, and document and communicate appropriate information to management or clients.
You should have a basic understanding of IT and Network fundamentals. If you're unsure, we recommend the Network+ Course to strengthen your skills.
How Long Will It Take To Be Job Ready?
I can dedicate
hours per week
What Our Learners Are saying
"Cybrary has enabled me to develop new skills and gain experience with tools that I’ve needed to utilize in order to support my clients"
"I encourage anyone I meet, who is interested in a career in cybersecurity, to sign up for Cybrary. There is nothing out there capable of getting someone as job-ready as this program."
"Becoming part of the Cybrary community was a total game changer. Cybrary was instrumental in helping me break into cybersecurity, despite having no prior IT experience or security-related degree."
Career Prospects
Average Salary via Payscale.com
What Will I Learn?
Defensive Security
Focused on trying to find the bad guys. Topics such as threat intelligence, threat hunting, network monitoring, incident response. Defensive security is a reactive measure taken once a vulnerability is found through prevention, detection, and response.
