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
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