The Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CISSP CBK third and fourth editions note a Security Administrator as: “A security administrator manages the user access request process and ensures that privileges are provided to those individuals who have been authorized for access by application/system/data owners. This individual has elevated privileges and creates and deletes accounts and access permissions. The security administrator also terminates access privileges when individuals leave their jobs or transfer between company divisions. The security administrator maintains records of access request approvals and produces reports of access rights for the auditor during testing in an access controls audit to demonstrate compliance with the policies.”

CompTIA somewhat contrasts this, referring to a security administrator as the “point person for a cybersecurity team” and being “broadly responsible for installing, administering, and troubleshooting an organization’s security solutions.” In this direction, CompTIA notes that security administrators care for and feed security solutions, manage patches, and configure firewalls. Likewise, CompTIA notes “developing and updating business continuity and disaster recovery protocols.”

The reality is that cybersecurity administrators are generally positioned in entry-level roles. With automation between systems, many of the functions noted above will be unnecessary with access approval, even in small companies, handled by a service desk as part of IT Service Management (ITSM) and operations. Most might fill systems, networks, applications, databases, or even cloud-related roles, but not necessarily with full admin rights. More than likely, many functions are handled by analysts and engineers or through automation. Much of this depends on the organization and how cybersecurity leadership positions their organizational charts and target operating model.

Cybersecurity administrator types are divided into government, corporate, commercial, and product to differentiate core differences between each type. Generally, most people work within corporate or government environments, not-for-profits, and non-profits. Companies can be publicly or privately held, small to carrier-class enterprises operating globally. Most companies produce wide-ranging products or services or both, considering the sixteen critical infrastructure industry sectors and various non-regulated organizations. The variation of roles and functions is not necessarily very delineated for these entry-level roles. In other words, they tend to be approximately the same across government, corporate, commercial, and product.

One of the critical elements of standardization around competencies and tasks is developing consistent job descriptions and titles. Currently, the variation and variety of job descriptions and titles in the cybersecurity administrator space are immense and inconsistent or not standardized. In addition, there are many odd variations, a lack of understanding of the roles and functions, a misunderstanding of necessary or needed skill sets, or a general misunderstanding of the differences between administrators, analysts, and engineers. Subsequently, this leads to confusion about what the role should be doing or encompass from a skill set perspective.

The skills, competencies, and tasks are presented in a manner that hiring managers can pull from to develop a consistent set of job descriptions. The premise presented here will help reduce job descriptions and title variations while producing more targeted and appropriate roles and functions within a cybersecurity program. As a result, companies across industry sectors can standardize their job descriptions, position titles, and position levels. Likewise, hiring managers can develop a skillset and competency view across their teams to define empirically where they have actual skillset shortages or deficiencies.

Cybersecurity administrator certifications are those at the entry level. These can be widely varying across multiple associations and vendors. They can also encompass a wide range of technologies, knowledge, and practical skills. Most are foundational in nature. CompTIA currently offers the broadest range of certifications, covering a wide variety of foundational topics. Likewise, there are numerous foundational certifications from AWS, Check Point, Cisco, Google, Microsoft, Oracle, Palo Alto, Juniper, Red Hat, SANS Institute, and other organizations.

Getting certifications is a personal choice. It is generally up to the individual to decide whether they want to put the time, effort, and money into achieving them. Some hiring managers want to see them, while others do not. Additionally, please note that the mileage may vary depending on the quality of learning outcomes associated with certifications.