· Security & Compliance
Security & Compliance

Security & Compliance

Security and compliance technologies enable threat detection, vulnerability management, network protection, and regulatory adherence, representing highly specialized expertise typically requiring senior-level experience. Security testing tools show strong adoption: Burp Suite appears in >10% of Security Engineering positions for web application security testing, Nessus serves vulnerability scanning (>10%), and Metasploit enables penetration testing (>5%). Static and dynamic application security testing (SAST/DAST) methodologies integrate into development pipelines (>5% combined prevalence). Security monitoring centers on SIEM platforms like Splunk for threat detection and incident response. Network security infrastructure includes firewalls (>5% prevalence), VPNs (>10% in security roles), intrusion detection/prevention systems (IDS/IPS), and web application firewalls (WAF). Compliance standards like ISO 27001 (>5%), SOC 2, and GDPR shape security programs and audit requirements. Entry-level accessibility is limited, with security engineering typically requiring 3-5 years of prior experience in systems, networking, or development, though foundational tools like Nessus and VPN show moderate entry-level presence (>5-10%). This domain represents a senior specialization within software engineering, requiring deep understanding of attack vectors, cryptography, secure architecture, and regulatory frameworks. Security expertise commands premium compensation and enables careers in application security, network security, cloud security, and compliance engineering.

Security Testing & Vulnerability Assessment

Tools and methodologies for identifying security vulnerabilities and testing application security. These specialized tools require security expertise and are typically used by senior security engineers or dedicated security teams. Limited entry-level accessibility as security testing demands understanding of attack patterns and secure coding practices.

Burp Suite

Moderate Demand
Rank: #1
Entry-Level: Moderate
Web application security testing platform in Security Engineering (>10%). Moderate entry-level presence with >10% prevalence, though typically requires security background. Industry-standard web security tool. Used for web application penetration testing, intercepting HTTP traffic, vulnerability scanning, manual security testing, identifying XSS, SQL injection, CSRF, security assessment workflows, and essential tool for application security professionals.

Nessus

Moderate Demand
Rank: #2
Entry-Level: Moderate
Vulnerability scanner in Security Engineering (>10%). Moderate entry-level demand with >10% prevalence. Network vulnerability assessment. Used for vulnerability scanning across networks and systems, compliance checks, configuration audits, patch management validation, identifying security weaknesses, automated scanning schedules, and foundational tool for vulnerability management programs requiring less specialized expertise than penetration testing tools.

SAST

Low Demand
Rank: #3
Entry-Level: Low
Static Application Security Testing in Security Engineering (>5%) and DevSecOps contexts. Lower entry-level accessibility. Code analysis methodology. Used for analyzing source code for vulnerabilities, identifying security flaws early in development, integration with CI/CD pipelines, finding SQL injection and XSS in code, secure coding enforcement, and shift-left security practices requiring code-level security expertise.

DAST

Low Demand
Rank: #4
Entry-Level: Low
Dynamic Application Security Testing in Security Engineering (>5%) and security testing contexts. Limited entry-level opportunities. Runtime security testing. Used for testing running applications, black-box security testing, identifying runtime vulnerabilities, simulating attacks, finding configuration issues, complementing SAST, and detecting vulnerabilities that only manifest during execution.

Metasploit

Low Demand
Rank: #5
Entry-Level: Low
Penetration testing framework in Security Engineering (>5%). Lower entry-level accessibility requiring security expertise. Exploit development platform. Used for penetration testing, exploit development and testing, security research, validating vulnerabilities, red team assessments, security training, and tool requiring advanced security knowledge typically reserved for senior security professionals and ethical hackers.

Nmap

Low Demand
Rank: #6
Entry-Level: Low
Network scanner in Security Engineering (>5%). Lower prevalence in job requirements. Network discovery tool. Used for network mapping, port scanning, service discovery, security auditing, network inventory, OS detection, vulnerability detection scripts, and foundational network reconnaissance tool requiring networking knowledge.

Security Monitoring & Incident Response

Platforms for security event monitoring, threat detection, and incident response. SIEM tools aggregate security logs and enable threat analysis, typically requiring senior security operations expertise. This specialized domain demands understanding of attack patterns, log analysis, and incident investigation.

SIEM

Low Demand
Rank: #1
Entry-Level: Low
Security Information and Event Management in Security Engineering (>5%) and security operations contexts. Limited entry-level accessibility requiring security expertise. Security monitoring platform. Used for log aggregation and correlation, threat detection, security event analysis, compliance reporting, incident investigation, real-time alerting, forensic analysis, and centralized security monitoring typically operated by security operations centers (SOCs) with senior analysts.

Splunk

Moderate Demand
Rank: #2
Entry-Level: Low
Log analytics platform serving SIEM in Observability & Monitoring (>25%) and Security Engineering (>5%). Lower entry-level accessibility for security use cases. Machine data platform. Used for security information and event management, log analysis, threat hunting, compliance auditing, security dashboards, incident investigation, and dual-purpose tool serving both observability and security monitoring requiring specialized security knowledge for threat detection.

Network Security Infrastructure

Network-level security technologies protecting perimeter and internal networks. These technologies are typically managed by senior network security engineers or security architects. Understanding requires networking expertise combined with security knowledge of attack vectors and defense strategies.

Firewall

Low Demand
Rank: #1
Entry-Level: Low
Network security device in Security Engineering (>5%). Lower explicit demand, foundational concept. Network traffic filtering. Used for controlling network traffic, access control rules, network segmentation, perimeter security, blocking malicious traffic, application-level filtering, next-generation firewall capabilities, and fundamental network security requiring networking and security expertise typically held by senior engineers.

VPN

Moderate Demand
Rank: #2
Entry-Level: Moderate
Virtual Private Network in Security Engineering (>10%). Moderate entry-level presence with >15% prevalence. Encrypted network tunneling. Used for secure remote access, encrypting traffic over public networks, site-to-site connectivity, protecting data in transit, remote worker security, accessing corporate networks securely, and foundational security technology with moderate accessibility though advanced implementations require senior expertise.

IDS

Low Demand
Rank: #3
Entry-Level: Low
Intrusion Detection System in Security Engineering (<5% prevalence). Limited explicit mention requiring security expertise. Network monitoring system. Used for detecting suspicious network activity, monitoring traffic patterns, identifying attack signatures, alerting on anomalies, network forensics, and passive monitoring requiring security expertise to tune and interpret alerts, typically managed by senior security operations personnel.

IPS

Low Demand
Rank: #4
Entry-Level: Low
Intrusion Prevention System with minimal explicit presence (<5% prevalence). Active threat blocking. Advanced security tool. Used for blocking malicious traffic in real-time, inline network protection, preventing exploits, automated threat response, and active defense requiring senior security engineering expertise to prevent false positives while blocking genuine threats.

WAF

Low Demand
Rank: #5
Entry-Level: Low
Web Application Firewall with limited explicit mention (<5% prevalence). Application-layer protection. Specialized security tool. Used for protecting web applications, filtering HTTP/HTTPS traffic, blocking OWASP Top 10 attacks, SQL injection prevention, XSS protection, bot mitigation, and application security typically configured by senior application security engineers understanding web vulnerabilities.

Compliance Standards & Frameworks

Regulatory frameworks and industry standards governing security and privacy. These standards require senior-level understanding of compliance requirements, audit processes, and organizational governance. Compliance expertise typically develops after years of security experience and often requires dedicated compliance engineering or GRC (Governance, Risk, Compliance) roles.

ISO 27001

Low Demand
Rank: #1
Entry-Level: Low
Information security management standard in Security Engineering (>5%). Limited entry-level accessibility requiring senior expertise. ISMS framework. Used for information security management systems, security controls implementation, risk management, security governance, compliance audits, demonstrating security posture, and international standard requiring senior security architects or compliance specialists to implement and maintain.

SOC 2

Low Demand
Rank: #2
Entry-Level: Low
Service Organization Control audit with limited explicit presence (<5% prevalence). Minimal entry-level demand. Compliance framework. Used for demonstrating security controls to customers, trust service criteria compliance (security, availability, confidentiality), SaaS vendor assurance, audit readiness, customer security requirements, and typically managed by senior security, compliance, or risk management professionals.

GDPR

Low Demand
Rank: #3
Entry-Level: Low
General Data Protection Regulation with limited explicit mention (<5% prevalence). Privacy regulation. Minimal entry-level opportunities. Used for EU data protection compliance, privacy by design, data subject rights, breach notification, data processing agreements, consent management, and requires senior legal, privacy, or compliance expertise often in dedicated Data Protection Officer roles.