6 Cybersecurity Roles Netting Top Salaries
A single data breach can cost an organization up to $3.29 million, according to IBM’s annual Cost of a Data Breach report, up 12 percent from the cost of breaches in 2014. When you consider the devastating effects of cyberattacks on companies like Equifax, Facebook, and T-Mobile, it’s no surprise that businesses are paying more than ever to hire in-demand cybersecurity experts to protect their confidential data and valuable properties. Here are the six highest-paid cybersecurity workers, along with their average pay levels, so you can get the salary data you need to recruit the experts you need.
The 6 Best-Paying Cybersecurity Positions:
Director of Information Security
According to our 2019 Tech & Digital Marketing Salary Guide, this position ranks first among the highest-paying cybersecurity positions, with an estimated salary of $125,000 to $215,000. Information protection managers are critical in preventing security disasters by finding any vulnerabilities in the information systems. These are the experts in charge of evaluating your company’s current security measures and preventing potential attacks on its computers, networks, and records.
When do you recruit someone? Want to secure customer data and stop the penalties and fines that come with having the personal information compromised or stolen? Do yourself a favor and hire for this role before your bottom-line pays the price and you’re forced to allocate funds to hefty fines for failing to protect consumer data, like Uber when the company was fined $148 million for violating state data breach notification laws.
Engineer in Cybersecurity
With average cybersecurity salaries ranging from $120,000 to $200,000, the role of Cybersecurity Engineer is also one of the most lucrative in the security industry. Companies hire security engineers for their skill sets and expertise, since they are mainly responsible for designing, creating, and implementing stable network solutions to protect against sophisticated cyberattacks, hacking attempts, and persistent threats.
When do you recruit someone? Hiring a Cybersecurity Engineer will boost the cybersecurity team thanks to the in-depth expertise and experienced experts in this role bring to the table. This is the job you should hire first if you want to take your team to the next level.
Engineer in charge of application security
Application Security Engineers, another of the highest-paid cybersecurity workers, earn an average of $120,000 to $180,000. If your company uses software solutions supported or hosted by third parties such as Amazon Web Services or Microsoft Azure, or if you custom creates your own solutions, hiring an Application security engineer is important. These experts will be in charge of protecting all apps and business applications used by your employees, as well as ensuring that all privacy and security requirements are incorporated into the software and adhered to.
When do you recruit someone? This position is critical for any company that wants to incorporate apps such as AWS or Azure into its daily operations. What is the reason for this? Application Security Engineers have the expertise and skillsets required to ensure the security and reliability of your internal and external applications, preventing hackers and malicious systems from attempting to compromise your infrastructure’s integrity.
Cybersecurity Analyst
The average cybersecurity salary for this job ranges from $90,000 to $160,000, and it’s well worth it. These security experts assist in the development, planning, and implementation of security measures to keep your infrastructure secure. They have the skills and expertise to work with Penetration Testers and Information Security Managers to prevent and avoid cyberattacks that could cripple your company, and they are particularly well-equipped to detect vulnerabilities before hackers have a chance to exploit them.
When do you recruit someone? If your business has been the victim of a data breach or has been infected with a ransomware virus, the next move is to recruit a Cybersecurity Analyst to help minimize the damage and keep you safe from potential attacks.
Penetration Tester
Penetration testers, also known as pen testers or ethical hackers, earn an average of $80,000 to $130,000 a year. According to a McAfee report, security managers agree that recruiting ethical hackers provides an organization with a valuable understanding of hacker logic and vital cybersecurity skills. Is your organization conducting security checks on a quarterly, weekly, or regular basis? If that’s the case, these are the experts you can focus on attracting and keeping. Penetration testers run a variety of in-depth checks on your operating systems, networks, and even web apps to find bugs that cybercriminals may exploit.
When do you recruit someone? How safe is your company against high-level cyberattacks? This is the person who can answer the question and ensure you stay on top of the new hacking techniques. Hiring hackers for security roles may sound counterintuitive, but it will open up a new pool of applicants with insider information to help protect your properties.
Engineer in charge of network security
The average salary for the Network Security Engineer position now ranges between $125,000 and $185,000, rounding out this list of the highest-paid cybersecurity employees. This is a multifaceted position, similar to the Cybersecurity Engineer position, in that it is responsible for managing and controlling the LAN, WAN, and server architecture, as well as virtual networks, firewalls, email protection, and web protocols, security, and programs. You can never be too secure when it comes to a company’s computer network, and this position helps ensure that the network is safe and secure.
When do you recruit someone? If your company is having network issues or discovering vulnerabilities that you weren’t aware of, it’s time to hire a Network Security Engineer to help clean and protect your networks.
Consider this your insider’s guide to the highest-paying cybersecurity positions as you move through 2020, so you can set aside the funds you’ll need to bring in the security hires you’ll need. With analysts predicting that cybercrime would cost the global economy $6 trillion a year by 2021, you must recruit cybersecurity talent now to make sure you’re paying competitively so you don’t lose out on the top talent you need. Contact Mondo today if you don’t have the cybersecurity experts you need or want to learn more about the salary levels for relevant positions. We’ll offer you the salary data and applicants you need to improve your cybersecurity efforts.
