Learn to Be Blockchain Security Analyst

These days blockchain technology goes beyond fintech industry. It has been used by various other industry because of its advantage. But that also means blockchain security has become a concern for all industries that use the technology. That is why, blockchain security analyst has become a promising career with a lot of opportunities in various industries.

What Is Blockchain Security Analyst?

Blockchain security analyst is someone who are responsible in investigate and assess the cybersecurity of systems that are blockchain based. Your job is to find weakness and vulnerabilities in the blockchain system then making plan that can be used to mitigate the risk. 

You will work with the member of security department to learn about security initiatives that the company had used. You will also learn about threat detection, remediation and trend analysis. 

Besides working with the member of security department, you will also work with the stakeholders of the company so you can understand the requirement that the company want for their blockchain. 

There is time when you might even have to work together with law enforcement specially to help them track down as well as prosecute hackers who use a blockchain technology when committing their crimes. 

Different Blockchain Types

As someone that work to secure the blockchain, you might be working for different blockchain types. This is why, you need to learn about the types such as:

• Private blockchain
  
  To enter this blockchain you need to get invitation. Then you will be validated by certain rule, starter or the administrator. Company that uses this type of blockchain usually use permission network to limit people that can participate inside the network and which transaction type that they can do. 

• Public blockchain
  
  This type of blockchain focus more on the transparency and participation. It use decentralized consensus so the network transaction validation can be done by anyone. They will use an open-source software code that can be access by public freely.

• Consortium blockchain
  
  Only known participant that can access this blockchain. So, they need to be preapproved first by central authority beforehand. By using this system, the network can still be partially decentralized while still having enough control of the system. Thus, the transaction is private.

Job Responsibilities and Duties

There are a few responsibilities that you need to do when you work as blockchain security analyst. Although the details might be varied but the general responsibilities usually include:

• Assessing and reviewing the cybersecurity for new digital assets or blockchains protocols
• Testing and reviewing various application related to the blockchain system such as key management, blockchain database app, wallet solution, wallet integration, finance application, and many other.
• Working with engineer to do security assessment on the blockchain system for different purpose such as peripheral toolset, protocol changes, and many other.
• Reviewing code to analyze its security when needed
• Developing new tools that can be use for security assessment on the blockchain system
• Identifying vulnerabilities or weakness create report and develop mitigation strategy
• Help to troubleshoot, triage and monitor various issue and security alerts happen on the blockchain system

 Job Qualifications

Education

To enter this field, you need to have at least a bachelor degree in software engineering, computer science or another related field. Most of the time, employee will seek candidate with both the degree and professional experience. Some employee might want to find someone with master degree. But professional experience may give you opportunity even if you don’t have master degree.

Certification

Having the right certification is needed since employee can see your competency in the field with the certification as the proof. Try to find certification that show your deep understand on security protocols as well as various other practices needed on blockchain. To get bigger opportunity, here are some of the certification that you can get:

• CBP certification
  
  This certification will help you to understand the blockchain technology as well as various security risk that it has. From this certification you will learn the best practices which include consensus protocols, cryptography, ledger technologies, and legal compliance.

• CBSE certification
  
  This certification will help you to understand framework and security protocol used in blockchain system which include data storage, system hardening, authentication protocols, risk assessment, and many other. 

• CBSM certification
  
  This certification will help you to understand different aspect of security in blockchain system which includes access control, risk analysis, key management and many other. 

• CBSP certification
  
  This certification will help you to understand various security concept used in blockchain system such as risk mitigation, authentication protocols, secure coding and many others. 

• CBSA certification
  
  This certification will help you to understand deer in the best practice that can be use for security architecture in blockchain system such as privacy protocols, data protection, secure storage and many other. 

• CBSA certification
  
  This certification will help you to understand different type of security analysis which includes authentication protocols, access control, risk management, and many other.

• CBEE certification
  
  This certification will help you to understand different aspect of security engineering on blockchain system which include authentication protocols, secure coding and many other.

• CBSA certification
  
  This certification will help you to get basic understanding on blockchain system security which include data protection, cryptography and many other.

• CBST certification
  
  This certification will help you to understand different types security troubleshooting that can be use on blockchain system which includes, authentication protocols, risk analysis, key management and many other. 

• CBSP certification
  
  This certification will help you to get in-depth understanding of security in blockchain system which include, risk mitigation strategy, data storage and many other.

Experience

For an entry level blockchain security analyst usually, employee want someone with at least 2 years of experience working in related field. You can try to get experience in general IT, penetration tester, blockchain engineering, security research, or code reviewer field that will give you experience in dealing security threat. These jobs will also give you experience and understanding the process needed to mitigate the problems.

Skills Requirements

There are a few things that you need to have if you want to work in this field. Those skills will show your understanding of the field as well as how effective you will work. The skills include, technical, analytical and non-technical skills such as:

• Deep understanding in blockchain technology and ecosystem
• Ability to code and familiarity with various programming languages that commonly use such as C++, JavaScript, Python, Rust, Selenium, Golang, Java and many other.
• Knowledge of common blockchain bugs, attacks and weakness.
• Deep understanding in cryptography as well as digital security.
• Ability to analyze data and identifying pattern inside data sets that can be used to find potential vulnerabilities.
• Logical and critical thinking that can help in finding solution and complex exploit in the blockchain.
• Ability to use tools to do automatic security analysis
• Ability to review code to find security vulnerabilities
• Good communication skills to help explain various security concern and finding in various language that suitable for the audience with non-technical as well as technical knowledge.
• Good teamwork ability that help to work with the other team member in developing security plan that can be use to address threat that have been identified during analysis.

How to Enter the Field

If you are interested in entering the field as blockchain security analyst then there are a few steps that you can do

• Get the right degree
  
  First you need to get the right degree as most employer prefer candidate that has bachelor degree in the right field.

• Start to learn digital security and cryptography
  
  If you want to enter this field then you need to have in-depth understanding of digital security and cryptography. You can try to learn by reading book, taking courses and getting your certification that will help to proof your expertise.

• In-depth understanding about blockchain
  
  Since you want to work in a system that uses blockchain technology then you need to fully understand about this technology. Blockchain uses ledgers and distributed database which make it more transparent, tamper proof and secure. So, it is important for you to know how the system work so you can do your job efficiently.

• Being up-to-date with the current trends in blockchain security
  
  As any other cybersecurity field, blockchain security also evolve, so it is important for you to keep being up-to-date with everything. You need to continue to read blogs and sources that cover this field. You might also want to go to events and conferences that related with blockchain security.

Conclusion

As you can see, there are a few steps that you need to do to become blockchain security analyst. If you want, you can also find a mentor who help you to break into the industry and connect you with the right employers. 

But you also need to be patient on the process as entering any field or career is difficult. As long as you keep your eyes on the goal you will be able to reach it. Take your time to learn, get the right certification, and build your experience. That way, when the right opportunity come you can strike it right away.

Description: Blockchain security analyst has become a promising career with a lot of opportunities in various industries, learn how to be one here.

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