Intelligent CIO Middle East Issue 37 | Page 30

INFOGRAPHIC Inside the world of the cybersecurity professional: Insights and trends from Exabeam’s annual industry report “ THE KEY SALARY AND DEMOGRAPHIC INSIGHTS DISCOVERED FROM THE REPORT FOUND THAT CYBERSECURITY SALARIES ARE HIGHEST IN NORTH AMERICA. THEY ARE 50% TO 100% HIGHER THAN REPORTED SALARIES IN EUROPE. E xabeam has released its 2018 Cyber Security Professionals Salary and Job Report which is based on a global survey of 481 security professionals carried out earlier this year. The purpose of the survey was to gain insights on the trends in the salaries of security professionals, their education levels, job satisfaction and attitudes towards innovative and emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML). 30 INTELLIGENTCIO In this sample of cybersecurity professionals, Exabeam found that 90% are male and 71% of professionals surveyed have a bachelor’s degree. Their median salary range is US$ 75,000 to US$ 100,000 per year, with 34% earning more than US$ 100,000 per year. Overall, nearly 80% of participants feel secure about the future of their jobs and only 6.3% reported that they felt their jobs may be in jeopardy. Overwhelmingly, 86% of participants said they would recommend a career as a security analyst to new graduates. The key salary and demographic insights discovered from the report found that cybersecurity salaries are highest in North America. They are 50% to 100% higher than reported salaries in Europe or Asia Pacific and are 100% greater than salaries reported in Latin America. While salaries do not continue to increase reliably with increased levels of education, it was found that participants with advanced degrees consistently earned more than those with only bachelor’s degrees. Participants who reported higher salaries also reported lower job security and salaries at small companies are the lowest. Participants who graduated from high school but did not go to college, reported the lowest satisfaction with their current salary and only 35% of survey participants reported being satisfied with their current pay, while nearly 40% reported being unsatisfied with it. The survey found that system and security admins, Chief Security Inspectors and security engineers are the most satisfied with their current salaries. Security analysts hold a wide variety of certifications. Respondents listed more than 150 different types of certifications. The top three reported are: • CISSP: Certified Information Systems Security Professional (33.9%) • CEH: Certified Ethical Hacker (23.7%) • Comp TIA (22.7%) The report also considered job satisfaction and the results showed that cybersecurity professionals seem to be very happy with their career choices, with the overall percentage (83%) reporting that they feel satisfied with their jobs. Security professionals in the airlines and aerospace, and non-profit verticals are the least satisfied with their salaries. SOC/ security leads are the least satisfied with their current salaries. It was discovered that system/security admins, chief security inspectors and security engineers are the most satisfied with their current salaries. Forty percent of those with bachelor’s and master’s degrees were satisfied with their current pay and participants who graduated from high school, but did not go to college, reported the lowest satisfaction with their current salary. The use of AI and ML in cybersecurity can be considered beneficial for the sector and shows in the results from the report. Despite nearly half (46.4%) of respondents reporting that they are not currently using AI or ML in their jobs, they plan to utilise them in the future. Approximately 32% of respondents reported currently utilise AI and ML, while 21% of respondents reported not having any plans to use ML or AI in the future. Nearly 75% of respondents agreed that ML and AI can improve their job and make it easier. n www.intelligentcio.com