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web security technician

title: Key Responsibilities and Required Skills for Web Security Technician
salary: $ - $
categories: [Security, Cybersecurity, Web, IT]
description: A comprehensive overview of the key responsibilities, required technical skills and professional background for the role of a Web Security Technician.
Concise, SEO-optimized summary of the Web Security Technician role: responsible for web application security testing, vulnerability assessment and remediation, WAF configuration, CI/CD security automation, SSL/TLS and authentication hardening, incident triage, and developer-facing secure coding guidance. Ideal candidates have hands-on experience with Burp Suite, OWASP Top 10, SAST/DAST, Nessus/Nmap, SIEM, and cloud/web server security (Apache/Nginx/IIS), with strong collaboration skills to work across DevOps and product teams.

šŸŽÆ Role Definition

The Web Security Technician is a hands-on, operational security role focused on protecting web applications and web-facing infrastructure. This position performs routine and ad-hoc vulnerability assessments and penetration tests, operates and tunes web application firewalls (WAF), integrates security into CI/CD pipelines, triages web security incidents, and partners with development and DevOps teams to remediate vulnerabilities and implement secure-by-design practices. The ideal candidate balances practical offensive testing skills (SAST/DAST, manual testing) with defensive responsibilities (WAF, monitoring, incident response), and communicates technical risk clearly to engineers and stakeholders.

šŸ“ˆ Career Progression

Typical Career Path

Entry Point From:

  • Junior Security Analyst / Security Operations Center (SOC) Analyst
  • Network Technician or Systems Administrator with security focus
  • Web Developer or DevOps Engineer transitioning to security

Advancement To:

  • Senior Web Security Engineer / Application Security Engineer
  • DevSecOps Engineer / Cloud Security Engineer
  • Security Architect or Incident Response Lead

Lateral Moves:

  • Penetration Tester / Red Team Operator
  • Application Security Analyst / Secure Code Reviewer

Core Responsibilities

Primary Functions

  • Conduct scheduled and on-demand web application vulnerability assessments and penetration tests using a mix of automated SAST/DAST tools and manual testing to identify OWASP Top 10 risks, authentication/authorization issues, input validation flaws, business logic problems, and insecure session management.
  • Execute comprehensive scanning with industry tools (Burp Suite, OWASP ZAP, Nessus, Nikto, Nmap) and validate findings manually to eliminate false positives and prioritize actionable remediation recommendations.
  • Configure, deploy, and continuously tune Web Application Firewalls (WAF) and related edge protections (CDN security rules) to block malicious traffic while minimizing false positives for legitimate user requests.
  • Integrate security testing into CI/CD pipelines (Jenkins, GitLab CI, GitHub Actions) by creating and maintaining automated SAST/DAST scans, dependency checks, and infrastructure-as-code (IaC) validation steps to catch vulnerabilities early in the development lifecycle.
  • Perform web server and application stack hardening (Apache, Nginx, IIS, Tomcat), including secure configuration of TLS/SSL, cipher suites, HSTS, protocol restrictions, and certificate lifecycle management.
  • Triage and investigate web-related security incidents and alerts from SIEM (Splunk, ELK, Sumo Logic) and monitoring tools; perform initial containment, root cause analysis, and coordinate remediation with engineering teams.
  • Maintain and operate vulnerability management processes for web assets: import scanner results, score and prioritize issues (CVSS-based), create remediation tickets in tracking systems (JIRA), and verify fixes through retesting.
  • Conduct authentication and authorization testing (OAuth, OpenID Connect, SAML), token/session handling inspection, and API security assessments (REST, GraphQL) to identify access control and data exposure risks.
  • Collaborate with developers to provide secure coding guidance, review pull requests for security regressions, and run targeted code reviews focused on input validation, output encoding, and secure use of cryptographic libraries.
  • Lead and coordinate external penetration tests and third-party security assessments for web apps and APIs, working with vendors to scope tests, review results, and implement remediation plans.
  • Perform threat modeling and secure design reviews for new web features and integrations, identifying attack surfaces, trust boundaries, and recommended mitigations before production rollout.
  • Implement and maintain runtime protections (RASP), bot mitigation, and DDoS risk controls for web applications where applicable, ensuring availability and resilience under attack.
  • Monitor and analyze web logs, HTTP/HTTPS access patterns, and suspicious indicators to detect exploitation attempts, data exfiltration, or abnormal behavior, and escalate incidents per incident response procedures.
  • Maintain and update security standards, checklists, and runbooks for web application security assessments, WAF rules, and incident response playbooks tailored to web threat scenarios.
  • Ensure web dependencies and third-party libraries are scanned for vulnerabilities (software composition analysis / SCA), track dependent CVEs, and coordinate prompt updates and patching.
  • Automate repetitive security tasks and reporting with scripting languages (Python, Bash) to improve mean time to detect and remediate web vulnerabilities.
  • Support PCI-DSS, SOC2, GDPR and other compliance efforts as they relate to web application security: provide evidence, implement controls, and assist with audit requests for web-facing systems.
  • Validate and enforce secure deployment practices for containerized and cloud-hosted web applications, including container image scanning, least-privilege IAM for application roles, and secure networking rules.
  • Produce clear, prioritized vulnerability reports and executive summaries that translate technical risk into business impact and remediation timelines for product owners and managers.
  • Provide hands-on training, security awareness sessions, and ā€œlunch-and-learnā€ workshops for developers and operations teams to raise competence in secure development and operational practices.
  • Maintain up-to-date knowledge of emerging web threats, exploitation techniques, and vulnerability disclosures; proactively recommend protective changes to architecture and processes.
  • Participate in red/blue team exercises and tabletop incident response drills with focus on web application attack vectors and remediation verification.
  • Maintain asset inventories of web applications, APIs, and web servers; ensure all web-facing endpoints are included in scanning and monitoring programs.
  • Enforce secure configuration of cookies, CORS policies, Content Security Policy (CSP), and other HTTP security headers to reduce client-side risk and cross-origin exposure.

Secondary Functions

  • Support ad-hoc data requests and exploratory data analysis.
  • Contribute to the organization's data strategy and roadmap.
  • Collaborate with business units to translate data needs into engineering requirements.
  • Participate in sprint planning and agile ceremonies within the data engineering team.
  • Assist with procurement and evaluation of security tools relevant to web protection and testing.
  • Maintain documentation and KB articles for recurring web security tasks and common remediation patterns.

Required Skills & Competencies

Hard Skills (Technical)

  • Deep understanding of web application vulnerabilities and exploit techniques (OWASP Top 10: XSS, SQLi, CSRF, SSRF, Broken Access Control) and experience validating fixes.
  • Hands-on experience with web security testing tools: Burp Suite (Pro preferred), OWASP ZAP, Nikto, Nmap, Nessus, and Metasploit for controlled testing scenarios.
  • Familiarity with SAST and DAST tools and workflows (e.g., SonarQube, Veracode, Checkmarx, Fortify) and how to integrate them into CI/CD pipelines.
  • Practical experience configuring and tuning Web Application Firewalls (WAFs) such as ModSecurity, AWS WAF, Cloudflare WAF, or Imperva.
  • Strong knowledge of TLS/SSL, certificate management, HTTP security headers (CSP, HSTS, X-Frame-Options), and secure cookie attributes.
  • API security skills: testing and securing REST and GraphQL endpoints, understanding of OAuth2, OpenID Connect, JWT handling, and token revocation.
  • Familiarity with cloud web hosting and containerization security (AWS/GCP/Azure, Docker, Kubernetes) including image scanning and runtime policies.
  • Proficiency scripting for automation and analysis (Python, Bash, PowerShell) to build test harnesses, parsers, and remediation validators.
  • Experience with logging and monitoring platforms (Splunk, ELK/Elastic Stack, Datadog) to detect and investigate web security events.
  • Knowledge of secure coding practices, code review techniques, and the ability to give constructive developer-facing security feedback.
  • Experience with vulnerability management workflows, CVSS scoring, and ticketing systems (JIRA, ServiceNow) to drive remediation to closure.
  • Comfortable using version control (Git) and reviewing pull requests for security implications.
  • Understanding of compliance regimes affecting web apps (PCI-DSS, SOC2, GDPR) and the security controls that map to those standards.

Soft Skills

  • Strong verbal and written communication skills to explain technical risk to developers, product owners, and senior management.
  • Collaborative mindset: proven ability to work cross-functionally with engineering, DevOps, QA, and product teams.
  • Analytic problem-solving with attention to detail and persistence in reproducing and validating complex vulnerabilities.
  • Time management and prioritization skills to handle multiple assessments, incidents, and sprint commitments.
  • Customer-service orientation when working with internal teamsā€”helpful, patient, and focused on enabling secure delivery.
  • Continuous learning attitude and curiosity to keep pace with new web threats and security tooling.
  • Good judgment under pressure when triaging incidents and recommending containment or mitigation steps.
  • Ability to write clear, concise vulnerability reports and remediation playbooks tailored to technical and non-technical audiences.

Education & Experience

Educational Background

Minimum Education:

  • Associate degree in Information Technology, Computer Science, Cybersecurity, or equivalent hands-on experience.

Preferred Education:

  • Bachelorā€™s degree in Computer Science, Cybersecurity, Information Systems, or related technical discipline.
  • Relevant certifications such as OSCP, CEH, CISSP (or associate), GIAC Web Application Penetration Tester (GWAPT), CompTIA Security+ are a plus.

Relevant Fields of Study:

  • Computer Science
  • Cybersecurity / Information Security
  • Information Systems
  • Network Engineering

Experience Requirements

Typical Experience Range:

  • 2 to 5 years of professional experience in web application security, SOC, penetration testing, or application operations with security responsibilities.

Preferred:

  • 3+ years focused on web application security assessments, WAF management, and CI/CD security integration.
  • Demonstrable experience performing manual web app testing (Burp Suite), automating scans, and leading remediation efforts across engineering teams.
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