Blockchain-based products store sensitive data and money, which makes them attractive to scammers. Blockchain security engineers fight against this threat since they are responsible for designing and implementing security measures.

This is an important profession for the industry that is of great interest to many who are looking for their specialty. In this article, I will help you understand the basics of blockchain security engineering and highlight the first steps you should take to become a qualified expert.

What Is a Blockchain Security Engineer?

A blockchain security engineer is an expert who ensures blockchain-based solutions security in various ecosystems. These specialists validate the blockchain code, audit blockchain-based products like smart contracts, dApps, etc., and identify vulnerabilities to eliminate them. In addition, these experts develop and integrate new security features and tools for internal and external use. Usually, security engineers are involved in direct work with blockchain developers, project leads, and researchers.

Blockchain Security Engineer Main Responsibilities

I believe that the best way to understand any profession is to get familiar with the main responsibilities of the specialist. Although requirements for engineers may vary from employer to employer, mandatory responsibilities that you will encounter when working in any company are as follows:

• Evaluation of security of internal and external blockchain systems.
• Developing a strategic approach to enhance the security of blockchain-based solutions.
• Assessment of smart contracts used in dApps, blockchain protocols, and cryptocurrencies.
• Regular security checks (risk assessment, threat modeling, etc.).
• Development and support of open-source blockchain projects, providing security solutions for them.
• Providing accurate documentation to enhance SDLC capabilities with valuable security benefits.
• Training new engineers within the company.

Reasons to Become a Blockchain Security Engineer

The blockchain industry is developing and creating a new large job market that is attracting new specialists. Below, I have prepared a list of main reasons to choose the profession of a blockchain security engineer:

• High demand. The constantly expanding blockchain industry demonstrates a high interest in professionals. The rapid development of blockchain technologies caused a shortage of specialists. This factor not only makes it easier to find a job but also ensures salary competitiveness.
• Professional development prospects. Due to the dynamic character of the blockchain industry, it offers many opportunities to realize your ideas by improving existing technologies or introducing innovations.
• Internationality. Blockchain security experts work in a virtual ecosystem that has no geographical boundaries. It offers you the freedom to work from any location.

How Much Does a Blockchain Security Engineer Earn?

Competitive salary is one of the main benefits of the blockchain security engineer specialization. The average annual salary is $132k. The minimum yearly rate is $40k, and the maximum is $180k.

What You Need to Do to Become a Blockchain Security Engineer

This section will explain how to become a blockchain security engineer. Having carefully studied the topic, I identified the main requirements put forward by employers who are looking for security experts. Based on the information received, I have compiled a step-by-step guide that will help you master the specialty and start earning money.

Understand the Industry

It is important to start with learning the basics of the blockchain industry. To be able to protect blockchain-based systems, you have to understand how they work and what vulnerabilities they have. There are many ways to deepen your knowledge of the topic: educational books, articles, blogs, videos, and podcasts. It would also be useful to take a training course on the basics of blockchain technology.

Develop Programming Skills

Programming skills are as important for a blockchain security expert as understanding the industry fundamentals. If you are fluent in the programming language, you can easily read the blockchain code and identify the flaws. To become a blockchain security professional, you need to have experience working with programming languages such as Solidity, Go, Java, Rust, Python, C++, etc.

Start with the Fundamentals

Now that you already feel more confident and understand what’s happening in the industry, you can begin to study a more narrow specialty – security system structure and main blockchain protection methods. Additionally, a qualified security engineer is required to know smart contract auditing, DAOs, EVM, and DeFi protocols, cryptography, system reverse engineering, skills in tokenization, key management, data encryption, public key infrastructure providing, etc.

Find Professional Training Courses

I would recommend choosing good professional courses for blockchain security engineers as the main source of knowledge. To find high-quality security engineer training courses, familiarize yourself with reviews on trusted platforms and consult with someone who works in this area if possible. When looking for educational courses, pay attention to the presented program. Your goal is to learn the technical aspects of various concepts in blockchain, including the fundamentals of DeFi, NFTs, etc. The more information you get, the more qualified you can become.

Practice Skills and Find the Community

You can truly understand what a blockchain security engineer is only when you go from theory to practice. You can start by developing your own blockchain-based projects, like decentralized apps, tokens, etc., to practice skills and build up security systems for them. Moreover, you can advance your skills by joining open-source projects where you can work with other experts.

It is also important to engage with the community. It will not only help you find someone with whom you can share your experience and get useful advice, but it will also simplify the process of entering the industry. When you are involved in the community, it is much easier to find an employer or a freelance project.

Apply for a Job

Today, there are a lot of blockchain security expert vacancies on various job search platforms. However, I recommend paying attention to websites like CryptoJobs, Gitcoin, and Ethlance, which were created for employers and job seekers in the blockchain industry.

Before applying for any position, you must prepare your CV and portfolio. If you are a beginner, add your experience of working on your own projects or open-source projects to the portfolio to show that you have practical skills.

Conclusion

The blockchain industry is undoubtedly one of the most promising areas. As the development of the industry progresses, so do the ways of blockchain hacking. So, the demand for blockchain security engineers will only grow. By choosing this profession, you can not only get a prestigious job and a good salary but also become a part of the industry that allows you to develop yourself and expand your knowledge.