The technological specialty focused on protecting business computers and data. Computer security specialists are practitioners of this specialty. Internally, the computer security specialist must control access to sensitive information within the organization and prevent workers from placing the security of the system in jeopardy due to their actions. Externally, security specialist blocks all unauthorized access to the system from external threats through the creation of a powerful firewall.

The education requirements of a computer security specialist are typically a bachelor's degree in computer science with a specialization in computer security. Graduate degrees in computer security are also available for those looking to move into management, though management positions generally require eight to 10 years of experience as a computer security specialist.

Computer security specialists are often members of organizational information technology (IT) departments, and a large amount their duties consists of internal security within the organization. For example, computer security specialists may create the secured login process for the organization or may define access levels within the organization's network to ensure confidential materials can only be accessed by those with proper security credentials. In addition to setting up the access levels, the computer security specialist monitors the system for security violations from workers, and creates a security plan with rules intended to reduce worker violations.

Computer security specialists also focus on external security measures. For example, specialists may create firewalls to control traffic on the computer network. This firewall creation is largely a matter of modifying an existing firewall system so that only trusted data moves through the network. In order to do this, the security specialist must be experienced with the creation and modification of firewall systems.#BR#