SOC Analyst Vs. Penetration Tester

There is a rise in cyber attacks worldwide, which ultimately enhances the importance of cybersecurity professionals. Every organization requires a cyber security professional who maintains a strong security posture. As a result, organizations are actively recruiting high-skilled professionals who are skilled enough to test, identify, and analyze vulnerabilities in the network. In this comprehensive blog, we will differentiate two major cybersecurity roles: SOC Analyst Vs. Penetration Tester.

Table of Contents

SOC Analyst
Responsibilities of a SOC Analyst
Skill Required to become a SOC Analyst
Penetration Tester
Responsibilities of a Penetration Tester
Skills Required to become a Penetration Tester
SOC Analyst Vs. Penetration Tester
SOC Analyst Vs. Penetration Tester: Which one to choose?

SOC Analyst

SOC Analyst is a cybersecurity expert who works with a centralized security team to monitor an organization’s network and protect against cyber threats. They evaluate security systems and take necessary actions to address vulnerabilities. SOC Analysts perform internal security audits to determine the root cause of vulnerabilities and generate a detailed report.

Responsibilities of a SOC Analyst

A SOC Analyst regularly monitors and analyzes the alerts generated by the security products. They are in charge of identifying the network alerts and behavior representing a threat. By analyzing the devices and systems, the SOC Analyst attempts to determine the details of the attack.

SOC Analyst implements the required security actions to prevent attacks after being identified. They are also responsible for investigating and generating reports on the identified information security issue. To protect the organization from cyber threats, SOC Analysts implement the best security measures and manage the security system.

Skill Required to become a SOC Analyst

The following are the skills required to become a SOC Analyst:

• Basic knowledge of Computer Science
• There is no specific experience required for SOC Tier 1 Analyst, but if you are going for a higher level of SOC Analyst, then it is recommended to have experience in working with Firewall intrusion prevention/detection protocols, Network protocols, and packet analysis tools.
• Good Knowledge of SIEM
• Ability to perform IDS/IPS, vulnerability testing, and penetration testing
• Excellent knowledge of security products
• Ability to endure quick action in time and should have good troubleshooting skills
• Familiar with programming languages such as SQL, C, C++, PHP, Ruby on Rails, Perl, or Java
• Familiar with computer forensic techniques to prevent cybercrime
• Ability to work with various operating systems like Linux, Windows, and OS X
• Good Communication skills and ability to coordinate with technical and other security teams

Penetration Tester

A Penetration Tester or a Pentester is responsible for identifying and resolving vulnerabilities in the organization’s system and network. They perform authorized tests on the system to identify the vulnerability before attackers tend to exploit the network or system. Pentesters play an offensive role in cybersecurity by performing attacks on the organization’s system to uncover and patch attack surfaces in time.

Responsibilities of a Penetration Tester

The responsibilities of a Penetration Tester depend on the nature of an organization. The following are some of the typical responsibilities of a Penetration Tester:

• Perform penetration tests on applications, network devices, and cloud infrastructures
• Develop testing strategies for penetration testing
• Perform reverse engineer malware attacks
• Design and conduct simulated social engineering attacks
• Review the source code for security vulnerabilities
• Automate standard testing techniques to improve efficiency
• Delivers insights to both technical and security executive team
• Evaluates the security improvements with additional testing
• Research and experiment with various types of cyber attacks
• Prepare technical and executive reports for reference

Skills Required to become a Penetration Tester

The following are the skills required to become a Penetration Tester:

• Ability to understand the client’s requirements and, able to plan and implement accordingly
• Ability to think like an attacker and have ethical integrity to handle a high level of confidential information
• Good knowledge and work experience with almost all penetration testing methods
• Excellent work experience in using security assessment tools
• Familiar with Windows, Linux, and Mac OS operating systems
• Excellent communication skills to explain techniques and strategies used in testing
• Basic understanding of Programming languages, especially for reviewing the source code, such as Python, C, C++, Java, Ruby, and Perl

SOC Analyst Vs. Penetration Tester

SOC Analyst	Penetration Tester
SOC Analyst is a role under Defensive security.	Penetration Tester is a role under Offensive security.
They are the Blue team members	They are the Red team members
They are responsible for analyzing and defending against cyber attacks.	They are responsible for gaining access to the organization’s network and identifying vulnerabilities.
SOC Analyst has to monitor the network continuously and analyze security incidents using necessary tools and techniques.	A Penetration Tester must act as a hacker to think logically to find ways to penetrate the organization’s network.
The SOC Analyst team is mandatory for every organization to monitor, investigate, and take necessary actions in response to security incidents.	Penetration Testers are not mandatory; they are required to occasionally perform penetration testing for the organization’s network.
Exponential career growth	Less career opportunities when compared with SOC Analysts.

SOC Analyst Vs. Penetration Tester: Which one to choose?

Both play a significant role in securing the organization’s network. SOC Analysts have an exponential career path for the future. They can grow from SOC Analysts L1, L2, and to L3.

TRAINING CALENDAR of Upcoming Batches For SOC Analyst

Start Date	End Date	Start - End Time	Batch Type	Training Mode	Batch Status
01-Jun-2024	07-Jul-2024	19:00 - 23:00 IST	Weekend	Online	[ Open ]	Enroll Now
22-Jun-2024	28-Jul-2024	09:00 - 13:00 IST	Weekend	Online	[ Open ]	Enroll Now

Vulnerability Assessment and Penetration Testing play a crucial role in the organization, and many organizations have a dedicated pentesting team. The average salary earned by a Pentester is more than the average salary earned by a SOC Analyst.  Based on your area of interest, be wise to choose among the professions.

Become a Pentester with InfosecTrain

InfosecTrain is one of the best training and consultancy service providers in Information Security, Cloud technology, Data Privacy, and various other domains. It provides instructor-led training for both Penetration Testers and SOC Analysts covering all the core concepts. If you want to build a career in any of these domains, you can check out InfosecTrain.