Information Security Analyst Jobs: What You Do, What Pays, and Which AI Degree Fits

Information security analysts protect an organization’s computer networks and systems from attack. BLS puts their May 2025 median pay at $129,180 a year, and it lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical way in. An AI degree can lead here, but only some programs teach security, so check the course list before you enroll.

What Does an Information Security Analyst Do?

Think of the job as guarding a building you can’t see. You watch the network for signs that someone is getting in where they shouldn’t, and you work to make that harder.

BLS describes the core duties like this.

• Monitor the organization’s networks for security breaches and investigate when one occurs.
• Use and maintain software such as firewalls and data encryption programs to protect sensitive information.
• Check for vulnerabilities in computer and network systems.
• Research the latest IT security trends.
• Prepare reports on general metrics, attempted attacks and security breaches.
• Develop security standards and best practices for the organization.
• Recommend security enhancements to management or senior IT staff.
• Help computer users learn about new security products and procedures.

That list mixes quiet work with urgent work. Most days you read alerts, check logs and write things down. Some days something breaks and you stop everything to find out what happened.

What Is a Typical Day Like?

Here is how the BLS duties usually fall across a week.

Mornings tend to start with alerts. You review what the monitoring tools flagged overnight, decide which items are real and which are noise, and look into the real ones. Many alerts turn out to be harmless, and sorting them is a large part of the work.

Between alerts you do the slower jobs. You scan systems for weak spots, write up what you found, and tell the IT team what to fix first. You also write the reports that managers read, so clear writing matters more than people expect.

Then there are the bad days. When a breach happens, you investigate it, help contain it and document it. That can mean long hours and a lot of attention from senior people. It is the honest downside of the job, and the reason some analysts are on call.

Which AI Degree Level Do Employers Expect?

For this job, the answer starts with BLS, not with AI. It lists a bachelor’s degree as the typical entry-level education and says graduate school is not required.

That tells you two things. First, a bachelor’s is the level to aim for if you are starting from scratch. Second, a master’s is not a requirement, so don’t take on a master’s debt on the assumption that the job demands one.

BLS does not say which field the bachelor’s should be in. In practice people come in through computer science, information technology and cybersecurity degrees, and an AI degree is a newer option. Our comparison of an AI degree and a computer science degree covers how the two differ.

Be honest with yourself about the fit. Most AI degrees spend their time on machine learning, data and models. Security is a different body of knowledge, so an AI degree helps most when it includes security content or when you build the security side yourself.

Which Online AI Degrees Fit Security Work?

Three kinds of programs fit, and each one suits a different starting point.

Bachelor’s degrees. If you don’t have a bachelor’s yet, this is the level BLS names. Our ranking of online bachelor’s degrees in artificial intelligence compares them on cost, format and transfer credit limits. Dakota State University’s online BS in Artificial Intelligence lists a total tuition of $44,856 for 120 credits.

Angelo State University’s online BS in Artificial Intelligence lists internships in an on-campus Regional Security Operations Center. The program page says the internships are on campus, so online students should ask whether they can take part.

Applied AI master’s degrees. If you already hold a bachelor’s and want to add AI to a security career, applied programs are the closest match. See our list of online applied AI degrees. Northeastern University’s MPS in Applied AI offers a Machine Learning for Cybersecurity concentration and lists $30,500 in total tuition.

Master’s degrees with a security track. The University of Bridgeport’s online MS in Artificial Intelligence lets you choose a Cybersecurity concentration. It lists 30 credits at $1,100 a credit, or $33,000 in total. The University of Arizona’s MS in AI for Business includes a course called AI for Cybersecurity and lists $37,500.

Each program page shows the full cost, the format and what the school publishes about admissions. If you work full time, start with our list of online AI degrees for working adults.

What Skills and Tools Do You Need?

BLS names the tools in its duty list, and that is the safest guide to what you will touch: firewalls, data encryption programs and the software that monitors networks and checks systems for weak spots.

Beyond those, the work rewards a few habits.

• Networking basics. You can’t spot unusual traffic if you don’t know what normal traffic looks like.
• Operating systems and logs. Most investigations start by reading what a system recorded.
• Scripting. Writing small scripts to sort through logs saves hours. Python is a common choice, and many AI programs teach it.
• Clear writing. Reports on attempted attacks and breaches go to managers who aren’t technical.
• Calm under pressure. When a breach happens, people look to you.

An AI degree adds something specific here. Analysts who understand machine learning can work with tools that use it to flag odd behavior, and can question what those tools produce. That is a real advantage, though it comes on top of the basics, not in place of them.

We can’t tell you which certifications employers will ask for, because BLS doesn’t list them and we haven’t verified a current set. Read ten postings in your area, note the certifications that show up repeatedly, and plan around those.

How Do You Get Hired Step by Step?

There is no single path, but this order works for most people.

1. Pick your starting level. With no degree, look at a bachelor’s. With a bachelor’s in another field, look at a master’s or a program that accepts career changers, such as the ones on our list of online AI degrees for career changers.
2. Choose a program with security content. Look for a concentration, a course or an internship tied to security, like the examples above.
3. Build the basics alongside the degree. Learn networking, one operating system in depth and a scripting language. Set up a small home lab and break things on purpose.
4. Get hands-on experience. An internship or a help desk or IT support job gets you close to real systems. Some programs list internships, and our artificial intelligence careers guide shows how those fit in.
5. Read real job postings. Copy the required skills into a list and check yourself against it every month.
6. Apply for entry roles. Titles vary by employer, so search for analyst, security operations and monitoring roles together.
7. Write down what you’ve done. Keep short notes on projects and labs. In an interview, a specific story beats a general claim.

Be ready for a slow start. Entry-level security roles can be competitive, and many analysts spend time in a general IT job first. That is not a failure. Time on a help desk or a network team teaches you what normal looks like, which is exactly what you need to notice when something isn’t.

What Does an Information Security Analyst Earn?

BLS counted 190,650 information security analysts in May 2025. Here is what they were paid.

• Median: $129,180 a year, or $62.11 an hour.
• Mean: $132,510 a year, or $63.71 an hour.
• Bottom 10 percent: $75,090 or less.
• Middle half: $97,810 to $163,500.
• Top 10 percent: $199,850 or more.

Location matters. Washington has the highest annual mean at $156,080, followed by Massachusetts at $151,000, Maryland at $149,940, California at $149,090 and New York at $144,720.

The biggest job markets are Virginia with 19,120 analysts, Texas with 16,130, California with 15,570, Florida with 14,220 and New York with 10,060.

Our information security analyst salary page has the full percentile table, more states and the cost of an online AI degree set against this pay.

What Is the Job Outlook?

BLS projects employment of information security analysts to grow 21 percent from 2025 to 2035, which it describes as much faster than average. That is about 40,600 more jobs on a base of 192,900 in 2025.

It also expects about 14,100 openings a year. Those openings include people who leave the job or move to other work, so they are not all new positions.

Projections are estimates. They don’t promise that a job will be open in your town, and BLS revises them each cycle.

Can You Do This Job Remotely?

Sometimes. BLS doesn’t report how many information security analysts work remotely, so the answer depends on the employer.

Monitoring work can happen from anywhere with a secure connection, and some employers hire that way. Others want you on site, especially for roles that touch sensitive systems or require on-call shifts. Read the posting, and ask in the first interview.

Pay follows the employer’s location in the BLS data. A remote role may or may not be priced to your state, so ask how the employer sets pay for remote staff.

Is an Online AI Degree Enough?

An online degree is accepted for the job the same way any accredited degree is. The question isn’t whether it’s online, it’s whether you’ve built security skills.

Most online AI programs on our list are fully online, and many suit people who keep working. That helps if you are already in IT and want to move toward security. But a degree alone will not make you a security analyst. Hands-on practice with networks, logs and real incidents is what gets you through a technical interview.

Weigh the cost too. Our list of cheapest online AI degrees sorts programs by price, and the salary page shows how those prices compare with the pay above.

What Should You Do Next?

Start with the job, not the degree. Read the BLS duties again and decide whether monitoring, investigating and reporting sounds like work you want to do.

If it does, check where you stand. Without a bachelor’s, look at the online bachelor’s programs. With one, look at applied AI and security-focused master’s programs. In both cases, read the course list for security content before you apply.

Then compare two or three programs side by side on cost, format and security content, and write down what each one still leaves for you to learn on your own. Then talk to someone who does the job. Ask what they were hired as and what they wish they had learned first. That conversation will tell you more than any ranking can.