It's the best time to make a career in the data security field. The job opportunities are in abundance and the expertise required for these jobs are hard to find. Organizations are looking for professionals who are skilled and they are ready to pay pretty handsome salaries.
The salary fluctuates generally which is based on factors like locations and industry. In any case, Info Security Magazine assesses that InfoSec pay rates will grow 7 percent this year, which is more than twofold the expansion over all segments in the United States. Considering this range of skill set as one of the hardest to fill given the developing Tech void, it's nothing unexpected that when the correct professional is discovered, organizations are more than willing to offer focused six-figure compensations to secure it for them. In case you're hoping to grow your cybersecurity domain, here are a few highly paid cybersecurity jobs and their pay scale, so you have the knowledge you need.
- 1. Chief Information Security Officer
Salary Range| $102,000 - $500,000
Skillset | MBA with a specialization in information systems or finance, bachelor’s degree in Computer science or quantitative sciences, risk management, decent IT experience, financial acumen, business acumen
Senior-level officials are highly paid, no second thoughts on that and CISOs are no special case. Chief Information Security Officers, otherwise called Chief Security Officers (CSOs), are incredibly important to the organizations in which they work since they offer the best of both worlds: business insights and technical abilities. CISOs additionally need the management skills: they'll be administering security designs and dealing with the organization's incident response team.
- 2. Information Security Architect ($140,820 average)
Salary Range| $140,820 Median
Skillset | MBA with a specialization in information systems or finance, bachelor’s degree in Computer science or quantitative sciences, risk analysis and mitigation, vulnerability assessment, cybersecurity experience, intrusion detection, business acumen
An information security architect may direct InfoSec awareness training programs, make and decide approaches, respond to posed risks and create a security plan to prevent data breaches. A security engineer's first obligation when starting a new position is to properly understand the organization's frameworks. They should know about access gains and controls. They are responsible for vulnerability assessment. At this point, they must design approaches to improve the security of the organization's systems. Another duty of a security architect is to handle the user's policies and protocols and make sure to monitor them. Countermeasures to secure the framework when an unauthorized user tries to access the system are also the responsibility of information security architect.
- 3. Head of Cyber Security
Salary Range| $125,280 Median
Skillset | MBA with a specialization in information systems or finance, bachelor’s degree in Computer science or quantitative sciences, risk management, risk assessment, software reverse engineering, incident response, penetration testing, finance acumen, business acumen
Responsible for directing the internal information security, the Head of Cyber Security will administer cyber risk analysis and management and designing IT security strategy and implementation. The head is responsible for operational compliance to all ISO and other standards and regulations. They should run security audits and devise strategies accordingly. As very few organizations at present have a Chief Information Security Officer, numerous Heads of Cyber Security wind up filling this job and can thus look for a more significant salary boost. Therefore, the experience and aptitudes to be a Head of Cyber Security are the equivalents to a CISO.
- 4. Information Security Manager
Salary Range| $140,820 Median
Skillset | CISA/CISM/CISSP, ISO27001 experience, bachelor’s degree in Computer science or quantitative sciences, risk analysis and mitigation, vulnerability assessment, disaster recovery, cybersecurity experience, intrusion detection, must be familiar with Windows, Linux/Unix
Information Security Managers are in charge of ensuring the security of an organization's systems and information against security breaches, cyber threats, and attacks, vulnerability assessment, etc. They are likewise in charge of setting up and keeping up policies, protocols, and techniques to shield sensitive information and data from being undermined. They will have to make suggestions and devise latest security plans and propose which changes to execute over a business. Their job role also covers information security awareness training, they have to arrange such programs to aware the team with possible threats and latest trends in the industry.
- 5. Application Security Engineer
Salary Range| $100,000 to $210,000
Skillset: Bachelor’s degree in Computer science or quantitative sciences, CEH/CISSP, risk analysis and mitigation, vulnerability assessment, virtualization techniques, disaster recovery, cybersecurity experience, firewall, and intrusion detection, must be familiar with Windows, Linux/Unix
An application Security Engineer builds IT security solutions for an organization. As an ever-increasing number of organizations are shifting to third party vendor's software solutions like AWS or Microsoft's Azure or even design their solutions, it's reasonable they have to guarantee that these software solutions are sheltered and secure from hackers. As an application security engineer, you have to cater to information security issues during the software development lifecycle (SDLC). This job role is an intermediate-level role but some seniors are pushing their limits to reach an average of $220,000 or higher.
- 6. Security Auditor
Salary Range| $50,837 – $102,499
Skillset: Bachelor’s degree in Computer science or quantitative sciences, CISA, risk analysis and mitigation, vulnerability assessment, virtualization techniques, disaster recovery, cybersecurity experience, firewall, and intrusion detection, must be familiar with Windows, Linux/Unix
Security Auditor tests the safety and functionality of system frameworks and their related security components. It's about auditing and documentation! After conducting a security audit, you'll generate a report which will include remarks on the system's effectiveness, clarifying any security issues and proposing changes to rectify them.
If you are a person who doesn't want to get caged in a corporate environment, then you can go for this position. You can work as an independent consultant and you can get travel opportunities because of your job nature. Auditors assess vulnerabilities and risks and to prevent the system from data breaches, they suggest different practices and techniques.
Every position comes with its fair share of responsibilities and to bear fruits, you have to work hard persistently in the right direction.
Check out our list of certifications to get yourself prepared for the above roles.
Wishing you all the luck!