As enterprises in every sector are moving more toward the digital age, information security is a hugely expanding industry. Federal, public and private organizations are displaying exponential growth in cyber security departments.
More attention has been directed to security as the government has recently thrust it to the forefront of the national agenda amidst the rising trend of national and international cyberattacks.
In Tuesday’s the State of the Union address, President Obama shed light on the hot topic:
“America must also face the rapidly growing threat from cyberattacks. Now, we know hackers steal people’s identities and infiltrate private emails. We know foreign countries and companies swipe our corporate secrets. Now our enemies are also seeking the ability to sabotage our power grid, our financial institutions, our air traffic control systems. We cannot look back years from now and wonder why we did nothing in the face of real threats to our security and our economy.”
Just hours prior to delivering this message, Obama issued an executive order to strengthen cyber security of the nation’s critical infrastructure. Federal agencies are now required to publicize threats to U.S. companies, with timely reports to each targeted entity. The Enhanced Cybersecurity Services Program is also expanded under the executive order. The White House also announced that the National Institute of Standards and Technology will be working to develop a greater national cyber security framework.
Also, the Pentagon announced it would be adding 4,000 new jobs to their already sizeable cyber security staff of 900. A defense official told Computerworld the expansion is a response to foreign threats to U.S. property in cyberspace. The threat is believed to have the potential to be as harmful as the 9/11 terrorist attacks.
Myriad private organizations are following suit and also unrolling similar plans to increase cyber security workforces.
For skilled information security professionals, this increase in demand will be highly beneficial. The need could lead better prospects on the job market and even higher salaries. Dice recently reported that in 2012, tech professionals enjoyed the biggest pay raise in a decade, at 5.3% average bump in salary.
“We’ve heard it’s a fad, heard it’s hyped and heard it’s fleeting,” Alice Hill, Managing Director of Dice said, “yet it’s clear that data professionals are in demand and well paid.”
Security engineer jobs were among the top paid jobs in all of the tech industry in 2012, with an average salary at $97,994.
The attractive pay combined with high need for security professionals will present a problem for companies looking to hire highly skilled and specialized individuals in this field.
The job market for information security is experiencing a flood, and HR departments are seeing masses of people seeking information security jobs. Unfortunately, this means that good candidates’ applications can easily get lost in a sea of resumes.
Now is a better time than ever to conduct your information security professional searches through a niche agency. Now is the time to contact Tiro Security, a boutique Los Angeles agency that only works on information security roles. Find out more about how we can assist your Executive Search.