Highest Paying Cybersecurity Jobs Roles & Desired Skills
Interested in Cybersecurity? Dive into the world of cybersecurity with us and discover the highest-paying roles and skills required to secure them. We are here to help you elevate your career prospects today.
Key Takeaways
An opportunity to explore the top-paying cybersecurity job roles.
Learn to identify key skills for each position.
Understand the pathway to high salaries in cybersecurity.
What are the highest-paying cybersecurity job roles and their desired skills?
The highest-paying cybersecurity job roles include different positions. Whether you want to become a Chief Information Security Officer (CISO) or a Security Architect. A penetration tester or any other cybersecurity role requires possessing a unique set of skills like threat assessment, ethical hacking, system security design, and more to secure top salaries in the field.
From the year 2021 to 2023, there were around 500,000 open jobs related to cybersecurity. And to your knowledge, the demand for qualified cybersecurity individuals is only expected to grow soon.
In this article, we are going to talk about the highest-paying cybersecurity job roles and other things relevant to these roles.
Desired Skills:
To become qualified for one of the cybersecurity job roles, you must at least possess the below-mentioned skills;
An IT auditor is the one who has to assess your organization’s technology for potential issues through security, efficiency, and compliance.
Key Responsibilities
An IT auditor has to plan and perform audits.
He has to document and present audit findings.
Similarly, he has to design plans and fix any security risks.
Education / Qualification
A Bachelor of Science in Computer Information Systems or any other related discipline is required.
Certifications:
Certified Internal Auditor (CIA)
Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA)
Desired Skills
Risk Assessment
Internal audit experience
Security testing experience
IT security and infrastructure
Average Salary
The average annual salary of an IT auditor is around $90,242.
Highest Paying Cybersecurity Jobs Roles & Desired Skills
3. Penetration Tester
A penetration tester is the one who has to help businesses figure out their security weaknesses before the malicious hackers can do so. This is done by attempting to breach computer networks but with the permission of the company.
Key Responsibilities
A penetration tester plans, designs, and carries out all kinds of penetration tests.
He has to create reports that are based on the results and offer recommendations to the relevant security decision-makers.
Similarly, he has to offer technical support during any kind of incident handling.
Education / Qualification
A bachelor’s degree only serves as a minimum requirement. Candidates must possess excellent skills by working in entry-level IT positions. With that industry, certifications can also help to start a great career in this area.
Certifications:
Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH)
CompTIA PenTest+
GIAC Certified Penetration Tester (GPEN)
Desired Skills
Security Planning
Analytical Thinking
Risk Mitigation Planning
Average Salary
The average annual salary of a penetration tester working in the US is around $114,945.
Highest Paying Cybersecurity Jobs Roles & Desired Skills
A cybersecurity manager is known to be an IT professional who has to oversee many things along with his entire team. He maintains all the security systems and identifies system vulnerabilities if any. With that, he has to create different strategies to stop cybercriminals.
Key Responsibilities
A cybersecurity manager has to manage all the human and technological resources.
He must track all kinds of changes to internal and external security policy.
Similarly, he has to ensure compliance with security rules and regulations.
Next, he needs to source cybersecurity tools for the organization.
Lastly, it is his job to lead risk mitigation efforts.
Education / Qualification
If you want to become a cybersecurity manager, then you must have a degree in one of the computer sciences disciplines like cybersecurity or computer sciences.
As a vigilant user and someone interested to work in the cybersecurity field, you have to know how to protect your digital assets. Using a reliable password manager, a fast VPN download, and a two-factor authentication is the first step to stay safe online.
The average annual salary of a cybersecurity manager working in the US is around $169,773.
5. Security Engineer
A security engineer is a person who has to design the entire system to keep the company’s computers, networks, and data safe from cyber-attacks, natural disasters, and any other issue.
Key Responsibilities
He has to develop security standards.
He needs to recommend security enhancements to the management.
Similarly, it is his job to make sure that new security systems are installed and configured correctly.
Next, he has to develop programs that can automate vulnerability detection.
Education / Qualification
To become a security engineer, you need to have a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity or any other relevant field.
Certifications:
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Certified Cloud Security Professional (CCSP)
Desired Skills
Networking
Database Platform
Programming Languages
Knowledge of Operating Systems
Average Salary
The average annual salary of a security engineer is around $142,616.
6. Cryptography Engineer
A cryptography engineer is an individual who has to secure data for communication and information exchange. A cryptography engineer is also known by the name cryptologist. He has to create a variety of encryption algorithms, ciphers, and other security protocols to encrypt data.
Key Responsibilities
A cryptography engineer has to develop new cryptographic algorithms.
He must analyze all the existing algorithms for vulnerabilities.
Similarly, it is his job to implement encryption solutions.
Next, he has to test new encryption techniques and tools.
Education / Qualification
To become a cryptography engineer you need to earn a bachelor’s degree in either computer science, information systems, or engineering in any relevant technical field. With that, a master’s degree can also be required by some organizations.
Certifications:
EC-Council Certified Encryption Specialist (ECES)
Desired Skills
Cryptographic algorithms
Systems Programming Skills
Network & Database Architecture
Advanced Mathematical Skills
Average Salary
The average annual salary of a cryptography engineer is around $128,179.
Highest Paying Cybersecurity Jobs Roles & Desired Skills
7. Security Architect
A security architect is the one who has to set the vision for a company’s security system. This includes work like programming, threat research, and policy development as well. The aim here is to keep an organization safe or one step ahead of any kinds of threats.
Key Responsibilities
A security architect has to build and maintain secure networks.
He has to prepare the budgets and oversee all kinds of security expenses.
Similarly, he has to coordinate security operations across IT and engineering departments.
Education / Qualification
A security architect either has a bachelor’s degree in cybersecurity or computer science. With that, a master’s degree is most likely to be required by such professionals.
Certifications:
Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP)
Certified Information Security Manager (CISM)
CSA Certificate of Cloud Security Knowledge (CCSK)
Desired Skills
Security Protocols
Security Solutions
IT Risk Management
Cybersecurity & IT Risks
Average Salary
The average annual salary of a security architect is around $245,176.
Highest Paying Cybersecurity Jobs Roles & Desired Skills