π‘οΈ3 – Intermediate Defensive Security Certifications (SOC / Blue Team / IR)
Intermediate defensive security certifications are aimed at professionals working in Security Operations Centers (SOCs), detection engineering, and incident response. These credentials focus on the essential blue team skills needed to detect, investigate, and respond to threats within organizational environments.
These certifications are ideal for analysts and defenders who want to strengthen their knowledge of log analysis, network traffic inspection, SIEM tools, endpoint security, and incident response processes. While they do not dive into advanced threat hunting or malware reverse engineering, they cover the critical operational areas of defense and response that most organizations rely on daily.
They prepare professionals for roles such as SOC Analyst Level II, Incident Responder, SIEM Engineer, and Detection & Response Specialist.
| Certification | Organization |
| π’ CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) | CompTIA |
| π’ GIAC GCIA β Intrusion Analyst | GIAC / SANS |
| π’ GCLD / SANS SEC450 β Blue Team Fundamentals | GIAC / SANS |
| π’ Fortinet NSE 4 β Security Professional | Fortinet |
| π’ Elastic Certified Analyst | Elastic |
| π’ Cisco Certified CyberOps Professional | Cisco |
| π’ Mile2 Certified Digital Forensics Examiner (C)DFE | Mile2 |
| π’ Microsoft SC-200 β Security Operations Analyst Associate | Microsoft |
| π’ IBM QRadar SIEM β Analyst Certification | IBM |
π‘ Tip: These certifications are ideal for professionals with basic SOC or IT experience who want to step into more technical and impactful security operations roles.
| Certification | Duration | Cost | Prerequisites | Avg. Salary (USD) | Europe Salary Range | USA Salary Range |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+) | 90 minutes (exam) | $392 | Network+, Security+ recommended | $107,522 | $39,000β$91,000 | $51,000β$117,000 |
| GIAC GCIA β Intrusion Analyst | 4 hours (exam) | $2,499 | 1β2 years in intrusion detection or networking | $112,000 | $60,000β$95,000 | $78,000β$135,000 |
| SANS SEC450 / GIAC GCLD | 5 days (course + exam) | $5,000+ | Intro SOC knowledge, basic Linux and Windows logs | $120,000 | $70,000β$105,000 | $90,000β$150,000 |
| Fortinet NSE 4 β Security Professional | 3β5 days (training + exam) | $1,000β$2,000 | Networking and Fortinet familiarity | $85,000 | $55,000β$80,000 | $70,000β$100,000 |
| Elastic Certified Analyst | 2β3 hours (exam) | $400 | Elastic Stack experience recommended | $90,000 | $50,000β$85,000 | $65,000β$100,000 |
| Cisco Certified CyberOps Professional | Varies (course + lab + exam) | $900β$1,500 | CCNA or security background recommended | $98,000 | $60,000β$90,000 | $75,000β$120,000 |
| Mile2 C)DFE β Digital Forensics Examiner | 3β5 days (course + exam) | $500β$900 | IT background, forensics knowledge | $78,000 | $40,000β$70,000 | $60,000β$95,000 |
| Microsoft SC-200: Security Operations Analyst | 120 minutes (exam) | $165 | Basic security operations or Microsoft Sentinel knowledge | $92,000 | $55,000β$85,000 | $70,000β$110,000 |
| IBM QRadar SIEM Certification | 2β4 days (training + exam) | $500β$1,200 | QRadar familiarity or SOC background | $95,000 | $60,000β$88,000 | $75,000β$115,000 |