Career Spotlight: Cryptologist
What Does a Cryptologist Do, and Is It the Right Career for Me?
Are you a problem-solver? Do you enjoy puzzles and escape rooms? Cryptology is the study of codes or the art of writing and solving them. If this is something you’re interested in, check out this guide to find out whether a career in cryptology is right for you.
What Is a Cryptologist?
Cryptologists study encryption and decryption research and can establish channels for secure communications. They also analyze data and patterns to decipher and generate encoded signals. Many companies depend on cryptology for security, so you can find jobs across all industries.
Cryptologist vs. Cryptographer
While both cryptologists and cryptographers are similar and work in coding, there are slight differences. Cryptologists study codes and create and solve them. They create codes by converting plain text to cipher text, but also convert cipher text into plain text. Cryptographers only create codes by converting plain text to cipher text.
What Does a Cryptologist Do?
While duties can vary depending on where you work, cryptologists are responsible for:
- Converting plain text to cipher text to ensure no one can encrypt the information
- Designing surveys, experiments, or polls to collect data
- Interpreting data and communicating analyses to technical and nontechnical audiences
- Using statistical software to analyze data
- Creating visual aids to make sophisticated business decisions
- Applying mathematical theories and techniques to solve practical problems
Cryptologists focus on solving problems and creating codes and solutions for the organization for which they work.
What Skills Do a Cryptologist Need?
- Analytical skills: Cryptologists use mathematical techniques and models to evaluate large amounts of data.
- Ability to think logically: These professionals must understand and be able to use computer programming languages to design and develop models and to analyze data.
- Problem-solving skills: They must devise solutions to problems encountered in national security, science, and other fields.
- Communication skills: Cryptology is all about communicating—in plain text and cipher text. You must create simple or complicated ways to communicate and be able to explain things in nontechnical ways.
Where Does a Cryptologist Work?
Cryptologists work in various organizations and industries, but most importantly in local, state, and federal governments, private companies, and military intelligence. You might find cryptologists working in electronic government banking, military communications, national security, and any area where legal databases depend on cryptology for security.
Education Requirements for Cryptologists
Typically, cryptologists need at least a bachelor’s degree in national security, mathematics, computer science, or a related field. Excelsior University’s fully online bachelor’s degree in national security program will prepare you for a career in homeland security, diplomacy, foreign relations, intelligence analysis, or international logistics, which all use cryptologists on their teams.
How Much Do Cryptologists Make?
According to Lightcast, the median advertised salary in the United States for entry-level cryptologist positions requiring a bachelor’s degree is $100,100 per year. The median advertised salary for all cryptologist positions requiring a bachelor’s is $128,800. If this sounds like the kind of job you want, reach out to an admissions counselor at Excelsior University to get started today.
