How to Become a Cybersecurity Specialist Career Salary Guide

In the federal hiring process, eligibility is based on inclusion in a particular group of people an agency wants to hire. These groups, called hiring paths, include classifications such as current federal employees, veterans, recent graduates, or someone from the general public. Their willingness and ability to provide top-notch training is a notable benefit for many employees. Even workers with aspirations to find their place in the private sector often spend several years working for the government to take advantage of the training. A penetration tester will take an offensive approach and attempt to break into an organization’s network. According to Payscale.com, the average salary for a junior penetration tester is $70,000.

  • The grade level and step assigned to a position determine the pay for that job.
  • Individual job outlook varies by profession; demand for more specialized jobs, like cybersecurity analysts, is expected to grow significantly, while other jobs are vulnerable to outsourcing.
  • Critically, they are focused on the security side of development, rather than the features or UX side.
  • It’s important to have the ability to convey key policies and processes in a way that the layperson can easily understand.

Enterprises seek to hire experts who keep up with new threats on a daily basis. The CISO needs to champion tasks such as acquiring the necessary funding, resources, and awareness for critical security projects.

Level of Education

Cyberattacks have grown in frequency, and these analysts will be needed to create innovative solutions to prevent hackers from stealing critical information or creating problems for computer networks. Information security analysts install software, such as firewalls, to protect computer networks.

  • Thorough working understanding of the security industry and knowledge in identifying credible, malware analysis techniques relative to current and emerging threats.
  • They may be tasked with reviewing processes and enforcing compliance, as well as tier-1 service desk security administration.
  • It’s safe to say that wherever technology exists, there is a need for cybersecurity.
  • As cybersecurity becomes even more important, businesses will look to hire professionals who have expertise in this area.
  • Penetration testers are hired by an organization to test out their security controls.
  • We’ll provide you with the salary insights and candidates you need to elevate your cybersecurity strategies.

For a vulnerability research engineer, the average salary is around $96,000 annually. Salaries fluctuate based on location and company size, but the data is adjusted for cost of living. In San Francisco, for instance, the salary for a senior cyber security engineer can range between $122,000 and $207,000. With the growing demand for cybersecurity professionals, it’s easy for graduates to find good-paying entry-level positions with ample opportunities for advancement.

Security Administrator

No cyber security professional is all-knowing; it’s impossible with the rapid pace at which the threat landscape changes. There is always someone who has information that you don’t, so embrace the sharing of information with your fellow professionals. Ions You qualify for the GS-14 grade level (starting salary $108,885.00) if you possess information technology related experience … Ions You qualify for the GS-15 grade level (starting salary $144,128.00) if you possess information technology related experience … Suppose you think you have what it takes to improve the mainline of defense of a company and create world-class security strategies.

Location impacts the type and number of potential jobs for security specialists. The demand for cybersecurity professionals varies by region, state, and city. Security specialists typically find more job opportunities in metropolitan areas than in rural parts of the country. However, the growing prevalence of remote work may mean physical location matters less for career decisions than it once did. According to January 2022 Payscale data, security specialists earn an average annual salary of $66,960. The average salary for security specialists can increase substantially over time, making this job a lucrative long-term career choice.

Information Security Manager Salary, Cyber Security

Which is the foundation of our collaborative approach that drives meaningful impact in the shortest how to become a security specialist amount of time. Payscale states that a pentester has an estimated salary between $52k – 137k.

Cybersecurity is a broad term – one can find a wide range of job titles within this tech sector. From a pentester to an information security analyst to a security engineer to a chief information security officer – each of these positions has a different salary range. How much you personally will earn also depends on various factors, such as your education and experience levels, the type of business your company is in, its size, geographical location, and more. Many cyber security specialists choose to earn a master’s degree in information systems or computer science to increase their earning potential and qualify for senior positions.