Ever dreamed of a career in the field of cybersecurity? These positions become more and more valuable and well-paid. Chief Information Security Officers in particular are in high demand right now and, considering the complexity and stress levels of the position, CISO salaries have also been rising constantly in the last couple of years.
Ransomware (such as the WannaCry outbreak), DDoS, cyber espionage and data breaches are just a few of the stress factors directly related to the CISO job, and the factors that led to the increase in payment.
More Cyberattacks – Higher CISO Demand – Higher CISO Salaries
The constant growth of cyberattacks in recent years has made the role of CISO and related cybersecurity positions increasingly crucial in the boardroom, as explained by global executive search firm DHR International. This has led to the growth in salaries. CISOs at top security companies in Europe have jumped to €1 million (£850,000) pay.
On the contrary, CEOs have started to lose their jobs, Gert Stürzebecher from DHR International claims: “CEOs have started to lose their jobs over data breaches”, adding that “the financial impact of some individual data breaches now runs into the tens or hundreds of millions of euros”.
Moreover, due to the upcoming General Data Protection Regulation (implementation date is set to 25 May, 2018), companies will have to deal with fines that could reach €20 million or 4% of their total worldwide annual turnover (whichever amount is greater), as explained by HelpNet security. However, until the expected regulation comes in motion the fines for a data breach are much lower.
Previous reports from recruitment companies have also depicted the uprising demand for CISO as well as the growth in salaries.
A Rise in CISO Vacancies Also Observed
In the beginning of 2016 Beecher Madden, a recruitment company, saw a rise in CISO vacancies of 68 percent and predicted that same increase to continue.
In short, the growing trend of cyber-insurance prices and the growing amount of disastrous breaches are no longer underestimated by companies. What is unfortunate is that while the average CISO pay grows continually, the pool of qualified CISOs remains quite limited. This also means that smaller companies with smaller budgets will most likely remain exposed to cyberthreat in their inability to hire top notch security specialists.
Milena Dimitrova
An inspired writer and content manager who has been with SensorsTechForum since the project started. A professional with 10+ years of experience in creating engaging content. Focused on user privacy and malware development, she strongly believes in a world where cybersecurity plays a central role. If common sense makes no sense, she will be there to take notes. Those notes may later turn into articles! Follow Milena @Milenyim
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