Secure System Architecture & Design
Secure System Architecture & Design Career Overview
An organisation's IT network's security solutions are designed, built, tested, and implemented by a Security Architect. The Security Architect has a complete understanding of the IT infrastructure of a business, enabling them to foresee potential security issues, spot potential weak spots, and take appropriate action in the event of a security breach.
An individual who works in Secure Architecture and Design will be in charge of choosing the best available solutions from a variety of technical elements and frameworks to solve complicated security concerns. Their choices have a direct impact on how securely an organisation can handle its data, information systems, and communications networks. The Security Architect’s recommendations for component selection, configuration, and high-level architecture serve as a roadmap for system and network designers, implementers, and operators. They estimate design costs as precisely as they can because budget overruns may delay the network installation.
A Security Architect must react quickly and efficiently to any security breaches, in addition to anticipating potential security threats and locating weak points in a network system. Typical components of a job role for a Security Architect include tasks such as: reviewing the system security mechanisms in place, making improvements, and putting them into practice; system testing regularly and continuous network security monitoring, and creating disaster recovery plans and running security breach drills.
What are the roles and responsibilities of a Secure System Architecture and Design Practitioner?
In this pathway, you make decisions about the fundamental security framework for the information systems that a company creates and manages, and you evaluate to see that the provided systems adhere to the design. The tasks likely included in this role are as follows:- Develop, investigate, and create secure software development and delivery systems with security, efficiency, scalability, and resilience as the primary goals.
- Make sure systems are created and executed securely, in accordance with the agreed-upon design and applicable industry standards.
- Create technical specifications and requirements for key software systems and subsystems and reach a consensus with non-technical colleagues on high-level business requirements.
- Give knowledgeable guidance on software security to co-workers who are software developers, system operators, etc.
- Research potential vulnerabilities to computer security, including contact with experts.
- Report to both technical and non-technical stakeholders on the situation and give suggested solutions.
- Evaluate new network device installations.
- Keep abreast with new cyber security concepts, norms, and technologies.
- Create roadmaps for future advancements in cyber security technologies and their effects on the organization's systems.
What is the salary of a Secure System Architecture and Design Practitioner?
As of September 2022, the median salary for a Secure System Architecture and Design Practitioner is £90,000, although salaries of £130,000 for senior practitioners have been reported. The majority of the higher salaries are based in the UK’s larger cities, so it is to be expected that roles elsewhere may offer lower wages.
Data has been taken from ITJobsWatch (IT Jobs Watch | Real-Time Digital & IT Job Market Trends & Actionable Insights), which calculates the median from job vacancies published online within the last 6 months.
What are the knowledge, skills, and behaviours required in System Architecture and Design?
- Solid understanding of how to apply security software engineering approaches throughout the whole systems development lifecycle to produce software that is secure by design.
- A thorough understanding of all identity management and authentication technologies, as well as the architectures and tools that support accountability and authorisation in both isolated and distributed systems.
- Strong knowledge of the security operating system protection methods, including isolation in multi-user systems, secure virtualization, and security in database systems, as well as how to apply them.
- Ability to integrate business needs, enterprise security strategies, cyber security guidelines, and regulatory limitations.
- Can comprehend vulnerability analyses and use them to inform design choices.
- Has the ability to adhere to data protection and other laws.
- Able to interpret a wide range of criteria.
- Has the ability to weigh needs' relative relevance.
- possesses a logical and systematic approach.
What are the career paths in Secure System Architecture and Design?
Most businesses purchase commercial software or cloud-based services or outsource all system development and maintenance labour to service providers. Organizations that do create their own systems, whether they be for internal use, client use, or public sale, must make sure they are safe in design.
Many organisations that create systems may combine security design obligations with system design responsibilities and security architecture responsibilities with overall architecture responsibilities. In order to do this, designers and architects must consider all criteria, not only security-related ones.
The security architecture and design teams will, however, typically be distinct for big development teams.
Secure System Architecture and Design Practitioner: Will likely be focused on individual component security design.
Secure System Architecture and Design Senior Practitioner: Will likely be focused on the overall system's security architecture.