The latest salary survey by British recruitment company Robert Walters reveals that cyber security professionals can expect large pay increases in 2015.

Cyber crime and hacking are major worries for organisations of all types and sizes, so the growth of cyber security salaries should not come as a surprise. It’s also amplified by competition among employers to hire and retain qualified cyber security experts. This phenomenon naturally leads to increases in salaries and creates lucrative career prospects for ambitious IT professionals.

Growing awareness of cyber security drives demand

The 2015 Global Salary Survey identifies key trends for each of the UK regions surveyed, which include London, the Midlands, North of England and the southern counties. Here are some of the more important findings:

In 2014, the highest level of demand for IT professionals came from the financial sector, where companies focused on cyber security because of growing awareness of data protection and Cloud security issues. This comes alongside the continuing media focus on cyber attacks, viruses and identify theft. (London)

In 2015, demand will grow for business intelligence (BI) and security specialists, niche developers, and project managers who can bridge the gap between IT and the wider business. (London)

Available jobs will outweigh the pool of skilled candidates in 2015, leading to multiple offers and an increase in counter-offers. (Midlands)

New industry standards relating to cyber security have prompted large numbers of information security professionals to gravitate to bigger companies in 2014. (North of England)

Demand for permanent hires was especially pronounced in digital, development, data centre technologies and information security in 2014. (North of England)

A key trend in all regions is the high demand for professionals with the communication skills needed to discuss complex issues with the wider business. Meanwhile, successful candidates will enjoy multiple job offers, competitive salaries and the chance to work with cutting-edge technology.

Secure your company and your career

2015 is emerging as the year that will bring great opportunities for cyber security professionals if they can demonstrate the right technical, analytical, management and soft skills.

A quick check of job boards provides an overview of the most popular qualifications in the sector. CISSP, CLAS/CESG, ISO 27001 and COBIT certifications are among the most desirable, according to Sebastien Cobut, operations director and vice president of European Staffing Services at IT recruitment specialist Volt. (See interview for Contractor UK.)

ISO 27001 skills growing in importance

A recent survey by BSI found that organisations that had implemented ISO 27001, the international information security management system standard, are more conscious of the risk of cyber attack.

56% of ISO 27001-certified organisations said they were aware of the risk, compared with just 12% of uncertified organisations.

Similarly, 52% of organisations that had implemented ISO 27001 said they were “extremely confident” in their level of resilience against the latest methods of cyber hacking.

These results, as well as the growing adoption of ISO 27001 globally, are in line with the increased demand of ISO 27001-qualified professionals.

If you have decided to pursue this career route, consider IT Governance’s ISO 27001 learning pathway, which will equip you with the knowledge and skills required to plan, implement, maintain and audit a best-practice information security management system (ISMS) in your organisation.

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