14 DAY TRIAL // A survey focusing on the salary of security industry professionals reveals that lead software security engineers, Chief Security Officers (CSO) and Global Information Security Directors can expect an annual average salary of at least $200,000 / €178,000 in 2015.
The earnings projected for IT security experts this year are higher than ever, an unsurprising trend considering that cyber-attacks have grown in frequency.
Top 10 best paid jobs in the security industry
Dice Holdings, a company aggregating job opportunities for technology professionals, analyzed salary data and determined that a lead software security engineer can expect average earnings of $233,333 / €208,000 this year.
The financial gain for a CSO takes the second spot, with $225,000 / €200,000, while the average salary for a Global Information Security Director should be $200,000 / €178,000.
The top 10 best paid security positions also include IT Security Consultant and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), both with compensation getting very close to the $200,000 mark.
Jobs as Director of Security, Cybersecurity lead, Lead Security Engineer, Cybersecurity Engineer and Application Security Manager all fit a lower average pay grade, of between $198,909/ €176,000 and $165,000 / €146,000.
At the opposite end are security analysts ($59,880 / €53,000) and security installation technicians ($31,680 / €28,000).
Security certification includes benefits beyond a financial bump
According to Dice, the road to a better paid position is tightly connected to various security certifications in the industry, annual six-figure earnings being fit for professionals with CRISC (Certified in Risk and Information Systems Control), CISM (Certified Information Security Manager), and CISA (Certified Information Systems Auditor) attestations.
Although they play an important part, financial rewards are not the only benefit that comes with the certifications, as they open the door to challenges that are not available for lower expertise levels.