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How to become a Security Vulnerability Assessor

Checks all kinds of information systems for weaknesses and problems that could let outsiders break in or attack them.

How to become one

This job appeared around 2000, and there is still no standard way in. Some people studied IT at a kosen (college of technology) or senmon gakko (vocational college), and others are university or postgraduate graduates. People imagine science graduates, but many come from humanities backgrounds. Students who have taken part in Security Camp (a programme run by the Information-technology Promotion Agency to give students advanced training in information security and find and develop the next generation of security talent) are seen as having the basics of the field. There are also international vulnerability assessment competitions, and top performers are recognised for their ability and offered jobs or headhunted. Many people move into this work after developing systems, as knowing how systems work inside is a strength in finding weaknesses. Many also come from digital forensics or system operations. However, engineers who build systems rarely do this as part of their job; in most cases people do vulnerability assessment full time. People move between companies in the field very often. Individuals usually change jobs because they want to use their strengths or try new work, while companies hire to strengthen particular areas. People who want to build their expertise tend to move to companies with new, high-profile, challenging work. Industry bodies are running a project to map the skills the job needs (the skill map project), organised into basic technical knowledge, basic knowledge of vulnerabilities, basic knowledge of assessment work, knowledge of evaluation, knowledge of reporting, and knowledge of relevant laws. There are moves to create a training curriculum (syllabus) from this, and a qualification is also being considered. However, advanced manual testing is highly specialised and changes fast, so it is hard for companies or organisations to train for it. Most people build their ability by following their own interests, deepening their knowledge and mastering skills through practical experience. Most of the information you need is in English, so English skills are needed, though it is fine to use machine translation, which has improved, to help. Up-to-date information for the work often comes from communities and industry groups. New security problems are often discussed on community members' social media. You join a company with a certain level of knowledge and skill and build your ability on the job. A typical path starts with automated testing using scanners, following assessment guidelines under a project manager. If you only do this level of work following a test plan, you can manage it within a few months to half a year. After gaining experience with automated testing, you move on to manual testing. Manual testing also follows the test plan and guidelines, but it involves many non-standard elements and needs intuition and flashes of insight based on experience, so reaching this level takes 3 to 5 years. The next career stage is managing assessment projects, where experienced people take charge of jobs, negotiate with clients and manage projects. As well as assessment skills, this needs business and management skills. The stage after that is managing a group, equivalent to section manager or department manager. You lead the people managing assessment projects in line with the company's business plan and develop new business. This needs leadership to drive the group, foresight about where society and technology are heading, and a wide view of developments in related fields. Others do not move into management but instead run training for clients or the public, or deepen their expertise in a particular area of vulnerability assessment. Even more than assessment skills, this job demands strong ethics and a sense of duty, because the same skills and knowledge could be misused to attack systems or steal information. Vulnerability assessment needs increasingly advanced and specialised knowledge, and new systems keep appearing, so curiosity and a drive to explore are needed.

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How do I become a Security Vulnerability Assessor?

This job appeared around 2000, and there is still no standard way in. Some people studied IT at a kosen (college of technology) or senmon gakko (vocational college), and others are university or postgraduate graduates. People imagine science graduates, but many come from humanities backgrounds. Students who have taken part in Security Camp (a programme run by the Information-technology Promotion Agency to give students advanced training in information security and find and develop the next generation of security talent) are seen as having the basics of the field. There are also international vulnerability assessment competitions, and top performers are recognised for their ability and offered jobs or headhunted. Many people move into this work after developing systems, as knowing how systems work inside is a strength in finding weaknesses. Many also come from digital forensics or system operations. However, engineers who build systems rarely do this as part of their job; in most cases people do vulnerability assessment full time. People move between companies in the field very often. Individuals usually change jobs because they want to use their strengths or try new work, while companies hire to strengthen particular areas. People who want to build their expertise tend to move to companies with new, high-profile, challenging work. Industry bodies are running a project to map the skills the job needs (the skill map project), organised into basic technical knowledge, basic knowledge of vulnerabilities, basic knowledge of assessment work, knowledge of evaluation, knowledge of reporting, and knowledge of relevant laws. There are moves to create a training curriculum (syllabus) from this, and a qualification is also being considered. However, advanced manual testing is highly specialised and changes fast, so it is hard for companies or organisations to train for it. Most people build their ability by following their own interests, deepening their knowledge and mastering skills through practical experience. Most of the information you need is in English, so English skills are needed, though it is fine to use machine translation, which has improved, to help. Up-to-date information for the work often comes from communities and industry groups. New security problems are often discussed on community members' social media. You join a company with a certain level of knowledge and skill and build your ability on the job. A typical path starts with automated testing using scanners, following assessment guidelines under a project manager. If you only do this level of work following a test plan, you can manage it within a few months to half a year. After gaining experience with automated testing, you move on to manual testing. Manual testing also follows the test plan and guidelines, but it involves many non-standard elements and needs intuition and flashes of insight based on experience, so reaching this level takes 3 to 5 years. The next career stage is managing assessment projects, where experienced people take charge of jobs, negotiate with clients and manage projects. As well as assessment skills, this needs business and management skills. The stage after that is managing a group, equivalent to section manager or department manager. You lead the people managing assessment projects in line with the company's business plan and develop new business. This needs leadership to drive the group, foresight about where society and technology are heading, and a wide view of developments in related fields. Others do not move into management but instead run training for clients or the public, or deepen their expertise in a particular area of vulnerability assessment. Even more than assessment skills, this job demands strong ethics and a sense of duty, because the same skills and knowledge could be misused to attack systems or steal information. Vulnerability assessment needs increasingly advanced and specialised knowledge, and new systems keep appearing, so curiosity and a drive to explore are needed.

How much does a Security Vulnerability Assessor earn in Japan?

Average annual income in the private sector, bonus included, is ¥6,097,600 (Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare). The figure is for the wage survey group Other data processing and communication engineers, which covers several jobs.

Do you need a degree to become a Security Vulnerability Assessor?

Usually. In this job's census occupation group, 61% of workers are university graduates.

Will AI change the work of a Security Vulnerability Assessor?

Generative AI could change some tasks in this job, by the ILO's global estimate.

Sources

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 解説系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_description_7_01.xlsx）ver.7.01 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

独立行政法人労働政策研究・研修機構（JILPT）作成 職業情報データベース 簡易版数値系ダウンロードデータ（IPD_DL_numeric_7_00.xlsx）ver.7.00 職業情報提供サイト（job tag）より2026年10月4日にダウンロード（https://shigoto.mhlw.go.jp/User/download）を加工して作成

Sources: JILPT Occupational Information Database download data via job tag (解説系 ver.7.01 and 簡易版数値系 ver.7.00, downloaded 4 October 2026), processed by Peernovo; MHLW, Basic Survey on Wage Structure 2025; Statistics Bureau of Japan, 2020 Population Census; MEXT, School Basic Survey 2025; MHLW, Employment Referrals for General Workers (Hello Work statistics). Figures processed by Peernovo. English job names, translations and the matching of jobs to statistical groups, schools and degree fields by Peernovo.

Updated 4 October 2026