Security Pros Can Write Their Own Ticket

It's a good time to be a cyber-security professional. With continued staffing shortages estimated to be between 20,000 and 40,000 nationwide, information security workers are able to write their own ticket to some degree. The average cyber-security worker earns $116,000, according to a recent survey from Semper Secure, a public-private partnership that aims to increase the number and quality of cyber-security professionals in the Commonwealth of Virginia. That level of compensation is needed for the nearly 40 percent of respondents who work in two of the nation's most expensive places to live: California and the Washington, D.C., metro area. Still, money is not the top priority among the survey's 500 respondents, who listed challenging work, a sense of importance and the opportunity to work with cutting-edge technology as more important considerations than salary. But Semper Secure and survey partner MeriTalk believe that money may be more important than respondents are letting on, so they've put together a salary calculator that security pros can use to get an idea of what they should be making based on location, job title, experience, degrees and certifications.