Operational Technology (OT) Security Specialist

Median salary, education path, job outlook, and related careers — based on U.S. labor data.

What a Operational Technology (OT) Security Specialist does

Protects industrial control systems, SCADA networks, and programmable logic controllers in power plants and factories from cyberattacks that could cause physical catastrophe.

Education & path

The typical entry point is a bachelor's degree. About 4 years.

Estimated cost of that path: ~$40,000. Estimated payback: ~2 years. Estimates only — actual cost varies widely by school and financial aid; payback assumes ~20% of income applied.

Related careers

• SCADA/ICS Security Specialist — $120,000/yr
• Red Team Operator — $138,000/yr
• Malware Reverse Engineer — $128,000/yr
• Firmware Reverse Engineer — $135,000/yr
• Digital Forensics Examiner — $88,000/yr