Salaries for cybersecurity specialists are set to rise by 7% this year, well above inflation, according to the Robert Walters 2018 Salary Survey.Those working in the field will see the highest salary increase among all IT professionals. Developers and infrastructure specialists, for example, will see salary rises of just 3%.
Cybersecurity specialists are increasingly sought after amid the growing cost and frequency of high profile data leaks and cyber-attacks.
The volume of breaches grew by 27.4% between 2015 and 2016, according to the Ponemon Institute’s Cost of Cyber Crime report. Businesses had to spend 22.7% more on cybersecurity.
While strong salary growth is great news for cyber professionals, it underscores a shortage of qualified and experienced people in these roles. Large companies and organisations have little option but to pay top rates, but will see it as a small outlay given the eye-watering costs of data breaches.
Research from early 2017 revealed that 45% of organisations profess to having a shortage of cybersecurity skills. Some 70% of cybersecurity professionals believe that their organisation does not have enough in-house talent in this field.
Ahsan Iqbal, associate director at Robert Walters, said: “While a 2% increase in salaries may seem quite modest, it is important to note that this follows a prolonged period of IT professionals commanding higher and higher wages. At this point, salaries for IT professionals are highly inflated, with employers having to compete to secure top talent. In this context, the increases for cyber security specialists are particularly noteworthy.”
Like other professionals in IT, cybersecurity specialists also place value on other incentives which can attract them to a role, such as flexibility and employers who are open to remote working and flexible hours. Company culture is also an important consideration.
“Employers should consider highlighting these aspects of their organisation and the role itself when aiming to secure top calibre talent,” said Iqbal.
