Build a Security Career 2021

Enterprises across industries and the globe have experienced an influx in cyberattacks, and they’re paying for it. 

The cost of a data breach has increased dramatically over time, reaching a global average of $3.83 million and a U.S.average of $8.64 million in 2020, according to the Ponemon Institute’s and IBM Security’s 2021 “Cost of a Data Breach Report.” 

As the consequences for holes in cybersecurity development become tangible for a growing number of companies, enterprises are investing not only in cybersecurity tools, but also in people who can manage their cybersecurity infrastructure. 

Read on to learn how the cybersecurity job market is changing and responding to a greater threat landscape.

Finding Your Cybersecurity Career Path

Read more: Cybersecurity Market 2021

The cybersecurity market

The cybersecurity market reached a value of $179.96 billion in 2021 and is estimated to grow to $372.04 billion by 2028, according to Grand View Research. 

Increased spending has primarily focused on greater investment in cybersecurity infrastructure and monitoring tools. But as companies work to modernize their cybersecurity strategies, they are also hiring a greater number of cybersecurity experts to design, engineer, and maintain their cybersecurity solutions.

Cybersecurity roles are certainly not limited to companies that specialize in security platforms and managed services. A large number of open security positions can be found at companies outside of information technology. However, large cybersecurity companies like these top players hire numerous cybersecurity candidates each year:

• Palo Alto Networks
• McAfee
• Fortinet
• IBM
• Microsoft
• Broadcom
• Cisco
• RSA
• CrowdStrike
• Zscaler

Learn about other top cybersecurity companies: Top Cybersecurity Companies for 2021

Cybersecurity job types

Cybersecurity job types adjust slightly depending on the industry and the cybersecurity tools pros have at their disposal, but these six job roles are some of the most common:

• Cybersecurity analysts are typically entry-level security employees who work to understand and continually monitor company IT infrastructure, evaluating potential threats over time as necessary.
• Cybersecurity engineers are more senior members of the security staff, focusing on penetration testing and advanced security assessments as well as the development of secure network solutions that integrate with existing IT environments.
• Cybersecurity project managers lead teams to meet security deadlines, such as time-sensitive security-patching needs.
• Cybersecurity researchers focus on researching and analyzing new tools, techniques, and systems that should be implemented in an enterprise’s security plan.
• Security consultants work as third-party security experts for their clients, providing regular audits, assessments, and suggestions for how clients can protect their most sensitive data.
• Privacy engineers and specialists make up a growing field within cybersecurity, specializing in privacy policy development and management as well as staying updated on local and global regulatory compliance requirements.

Cybersecurity education requirements

Although there are other ways to build up appropriate cybersecurity knowledge and experience, the majority of employees in this field have a bachelor’s degree or master’s degree in information systems, analytics, computer science, engineering, business administration, or a similar field. 

Beyond the typical baseline requirement of an IT-related degree, different roles require a variety of relevant certifications and environmental knowledge:

• Certified Information Security Auditor/Manager (CISA/M) or Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) designation
• Knowledge of different security and regulatory policies, such as ISO, NIST, COSO, COBIT, PCI, FFIEC, SSAE18, GLBA, SOX, and GDPR
• CompTIA Network+ certification
• Server administration experience 
• Experience designing, implementing, and supporting virtualization technology
• Experience with network operations and patching tools
• Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH) certification
• Experience with U.S. Department of Defense enterprise cyber tools, such as ACAS, HBSS, SIEM, firewalls, and network access control (NAC)
• Experience with malware analysis, network exploitation, and packet analysis

More on cybersecurity and compliance: Five Tips for Managing Compliance on Enterprise Networks

Cybersecurity job openings

Nearly 100,000 cybersecurity job opportunities currently populate the LinkedIn job board. 

These are some of the most common job openings in the field:

• Cybersecurity engineer
• Cybersecurity senior analyst
• Cybersecurity support analyst
• Cybersecurity business consultant
• Cybersecurity project manager
• Cybersecurity governance, risk, compliance (GRC) analyst
• Privacy engineer
• Cybersecurity risk associate
• Cybersecurity researcher
• Cybersecurity customer success manager
• Cybersecurity cloud specialist
• Vulnerability researcher
• System administrator

Several lesser-known companies are hiring for cybersecurity roles, but some of the largest organizations that are hiring in the field include the following:

• Apple
• GE
• The Coca-Cola Company
• EY
• Visa
• Booz Allen Hamilton
• PwC
• FBI
• Deloitte
• Facebook
• VMware
• Accenture
• PayPal

Other IT job market data: Today’s Data Science Job Market

Cybersecurity salaries

For two of the most common cybersecurity roles, the cybersecurity analyst and the cybersecurity engineer, salaries have grown at a promising rate over the past few years. 

The cybersecurity analyst role had the highest year-over-year salary growth of any tech role, growing 16.3% from 2019 to 2020 and reaching an average salary of $103,106, according to the 2021 “Dice Tech Salary Report” 2021. Cybersecurity engineering roles grew their income at a 4.3% rate in the same timeframe to reach an average salary of $134,340.

Analysts attribute much of the growth in cybersecurity salaries to an increasingly remote workforce and greater demand for employees who know how to detect and protect cybersecurity vulnerabilities across a distributed infrastructure. 

The analyst role is considered more junior than the engineer. The large average salary increase seen for analysts is an indication that companies are increasing their base offers to entry-level cybersecurity candidates due to their high demand and the shortage of cybersecurity talent across the board.

(Source: 2021 “Dice Tech Salary Report”)

Conclusions

The cybersecurity market continues to grow, and experts are noticing a major shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals as a result. Whether you have the appropriate educational background or not, now is an opportune time to build up valuable skills and certifications in this field of IT.

If you are already a cybersecurity professional and looking to set yourself apart from other candidates, two subfields within cybersecurity are emerging as top enterprise needs: regulatory compliance and risk management and cloud security management. Many countries and industries are bound by specific data privacy laws and requirements, so building your knowledge in these areas gives you more leverage to land specialized roles at global cybersecurity firms. 

Cloud security is perhaps the most important subfield with which security professionals can familiarize themselves right now, as virtually all major enterprises are moving to some kind of cloud, hybrid cloud, or multicloud environment that requires a more remote-friendly approach to cybersecurity. 

Regardless of your existing level of experience or knowledge, the cybersecurity job market is ripe with new roles and opportunities that demand security professionals who are willing to learn as security environments evolve.

More on cloud security jobs: Cloud Computing Job Market 2021

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