Massive global cyber attacks have been on the rise in recent years. We usually wake up with headlines of data breaches in big companies that lead to huge losses. Such fallouts are always harder for companies to ignore. These attacks not only lead to loss of funds but can also lead to serious reputational and financial damage. Therefore, it is not surprising that these companies are seriously looking for qualified cybersecurity professionals to help in securing their vulnerable assets. Such skills are one of the most difficult to fill given the growing Tech talent gap that exists in society. According to Cybersecurity Venture report on cybersecurity jobs, there will be 3.5 million unfilled cybersecurity jobs by 2021. The report also predicted that cybercrime will cost the world $6 trillion annually by 2021, from $3 trillion in 2015.
Cybersecurity skills are in high demand among companies. Due to the scarcity of such qualified professionals and their importance in any institution, the companies are highly seeking them. The 2014 Cisco Annual Security Report estimated that by 2014, the industry would still be short more than one million security professionals. The demand for cybersecurity professionals was predicted by Symantec to rise to 6 million globally with 1.5 million shortages by 2019.
From these stats, we can clearly understand why companies are seeking these talents. When the right candidate is found, such companies would be willing to stretch their limits during the contract terms just to win these people onto their teams. This includes offering a generous salary. According to Computerworld’s 2017 IT Salary Survey Results, security is the third highest-paying IT specialty (after cloud computing and ERP).
Here are the highest-paid cybersecurity jobs and their salary ranges. We will also discuss what the future holds for these jobs. If you are an employer looking to expand your cybersecurity team, this information will help you with the insight you need to attract and retain the talent you are looking for. If you are a professional in this field and you are looking for a job out there, this insight will help you understand the worth of your skills. Finally, if you are interested in this field and you would like to pursue the cybersecurity skills, this information will help you the money waiting for you when you successfully complete your training.
- Application Security Engineering ($129,847)
Job Description
An Application Security Engineer is primarily tasked with building and maintaining IT security solutions in an organization. This is an intermediate-level position that is responsible for developing security for the organization’s systems and projects as well as handling any technical problems that may arise. Specifically, this job involves reviewing and testing security code, performing penetration testing and identifying exploits for desktop, cloud and mobile applications. An application engineer also builds and test robust security systems such as firewalls hence serving as the “security point person” on policies and procedures involving applications within the organization’s system.
Salary
Depending on the size of the company and the experience of the employer, this job attracts a salary of between $93,000 and $155,000. The average salary is about $130,000 annually.
The Required Skills and Experience
In most cases, the employees will prefer an Application Security Engineer with a lot of work experience in a similar capacity considering the nature of their responsibility. Generally, employers cannot afford to have people who learn application security engineering skills on the job. The required skills include:
- In-Depth knowledge of hard skills such as secure network architectures, secure coding practices, and protocols.
- Good communication skills to ease the collaboration with other technicians in the workplace.
- The ability to integrate software operations and software development (DevOps). These professionals should not only be able to work in silos.
A look into the Future
According to Sherif Koussa, founder of Software Secured, this industry is not mature enough for the employers to always fully understand what this job requires. He added that the applicants sometimes even wonder what they are supposed to do. However, with the increased awareness about IT security, there is a growing trend to integrate security into (DevOp) leading to the increased demand for Security Engineers. This trend is likely to extend into the future.
- Information Security Manager ($110,867average)
Job Description
As the name suggests, Information Security Managers are responsible for ensuring that the organization’s computers, networks, and data are well protected against security breaches either through computer viruses or attacks by cyber-criminals. Information Security Managers are responsible for managing the entire security program including policies, hardware maintenance, identity-theft preventions and other aspects of network security. These managers may also be tasked with overseeing employee schedules and security budgets. They also create and implement information security strategies that ensure that sensitive data and information are not compromised by both external or internal parties.
Salary
The salary for this job ranges from $109,275 to $133,521. The average salary is about $110,867.
Required Skills and Experience
The Information Security Manager is more likely to interact with the C-level and other top executives. Therefore, strong communication and interpersonal skills are highly valuable as technical skills. Also, these managers must have a good understanding of information security tools, infrastructure, platforms, and methodologies since they act as a subject matter expert in information security. Information security managers must be able to advise on the latest security policy and suggest the changes to be implemented across the entire organization. Also, these managers must build a strong relationship with the key stakeholders and coordinate together with other members of the leadership. The required skills include:
- Certified Information System Security Professional (CISSP)/Certified Information Security Manager (CISM).
- Knowledge of security on both IT and information governance aspect.
- Experience of managing large teams in a security domain.
A Look into the Future
There is already a shortage of information security managers. This profession requires a combination of managerial skills and cybersecurity technical skills. It is a rarely traded carrier path thus the scarcity of these professionals. We still expect the demand of these managers to increase as more employers continue to see the need for having them in their organizations.
- Network Security Engineer ($83,114)
Job Description
The main role of a network security engineer is keeping the attackers out of the network infrastructure. This is the person at the front line of defense. Their jobs take multiple dimensions and may involve everything from deploying hardware and maintaining local network architecture to designing responses to threats. A network security engineer is constantly working to prevent all the possible attack on the organization’s computer network including hacking and social engineering attacks such as phishing, ransomware, malware, and botnets. These specialists are also responsible for protecting the IT network against natural calamities and other network failures.
The main duties of network security engineers include:
- Performing advanced diagnosis of incidents
- Communicating and consulting with internal and external technical counterparts, implementing non-standard changes to the environment
- Participation in and execution of projects, management of system performance
- Service quality, capacity, and support
Required Skills and Expertise
- Competent with network appliances: access points, switches, routers, load balancers traffic optimizers, hardware technologies, and operation systems.
- Competent with security appliances: firewall, authentication servers, VPN concentrators, proxy servers, content filtering servers, IPS, IDS, IDP, hardware technologies, and operation systems.
- Ability to work well within a team.
- A methodical and disciplined approach to work.
- Good analytical skills.
- Ability to structure and draft technical documentation.
- Good interpersonal skills.
- Experience in working with customers.
A look into the Future
Network security engineers are at the front line of the network defense. This is a critical position that every company would want to have the best personnel occupy. With the increase in global cyber-attacks, organizations are out to acquire the best skills in this niche. This trend is likely to extend into the future as long as cyber attacks continue increasing.
- Information Security Analyst ($75,112)
Job Description
Information Security Analyst is involved with planning and implementing measures protecting the security of an organization’s computer systems and networks. Typically, these professionals analyze the vulnerabilities in a system and suggest mitigation measures. They also plan and implement security measures to protect the network system and data.
Other duties of Information Security Analyst include:
- Performing risk assessments and testing of data processing systems
- Creating, testing and implementing network disaster recovery plans
- Recommending security enhancements and purchases
- Installing firewalls, data encryption, and other security measures
- Training staff on network and information security procedures
Required Skills
Specialized knowledge of cybersecurity which can be obtained through certification. Some professional certification available for information security analyst includes Certified Information Systems Security Professional and Certified Information Security Manager. Some employers would call for work experience on the related capacity before offering this position to an applicant.
A look into the Future
Currently, the United States & World Report ranked information security analyst as number 2 in the best technology jobs based on criteria such as employment rate, salary and job growth. The United States Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) also ranks this occupation as one of the top 20 fastest-growing occupations, ranked at number 16.
Organizations are continuing to adopt new solutions to stay ahead of the hacker and data breaches. This phenomenon is creating a high demand for information security analyst. According to the BLS forecast, the demand for information security analysts will grow by 28% between 2016 and 2026.
Final Thoughts
It is clear that a lot of money is flowing through the cybersecurity industry. A lot of money is moving into cybersecurity professionals. The global increase in the number of cyber attacks in the industry has been a key driver to the organization’s demand for cybersecurity professionals. It is clear that the demand for cybersecurity will continue to rise as long as more companies are seeing the importance of protecting their network and data against the damage or potential network penetration. If you are looking for one of these professionals, you better move first because the demand will only increase rather than decrease. If you are an employee who wants to join the ranks of these sought-after professionals, it is time to start learning now.
