In March of this year, news broke that the now-defunct data consulting firm, Cambridge Analytica, illegally accessed private information of over 80 million Facebook users during the 2016 presidential campaign.
While testifying before Congress in April, Facebook CEO Mark Zuckerberg promised to hire an additional 10,000 employees dedicated to cybersecurity and content moderation to protect user data from future breaches.
Though undeniably impactful, Facebook’s hiring pledge pales in comparison to the surge of bills recently drafted by the Senate Appropriations Committee allocating more than a billion dollars to combat the threat posed by cyber warfare.
It seems both government spending and tech CEOs are finally taking some responsibility for making the internet a safer place. That’s good news for those of us who like to shop, network, and post online without being hacked. It’s also good news for job creation.
The Massive Spike in Cybersecurity Jobs
Leveraging real-time data on which jobs are in high demand among employers, we put the promises of cybersecurity job growth coming from tech companies and Capitol Hill to the test. Using ZipRecruiter data, we scanned millions of job openings posted between January 2017 and June of this year to find job titles that include keywords related to cybersecurity.
Of all the industries we studied, technology saw the largest increase in cybersecurity-related roles over the past year. From June 2017 to date, cybersecurity jobs spiked 40% in the technology industry. In March, when news of the massive Facebook data breach hit, information security roles grew by 250% year over year.
With nearly 4,000 openings posted over the past 18 months, Information Security Analyst was the top job title in the field. Other top titles include Network Security Engineer, Cybersecurity Specialist, and Security Solutions Architect.
Companies are also adding information security experts to their C suites in massive numbers. Since January 2017, approximately 250 job openings for Chief Information Security Officer have been posted to ZipRecruiter.com.
Information Security Across Industries
Although the technology industry has had the most openings for information security jobs, we’ve also seen significant information security growth across healthcare, government, and finance since March 2017.
Job openings for Cybersecurity Specialists increased over 400% in both healthcare and finance from March 2017 to March of this year. Government is slightly behind the curve but still developing steadily, with a 280% year-over-year increase in cybersecurity positions over the same period.
Network Security Specialist was the top job title among these industries. But more specialized roles are also being created, like Chief Privacy Officer in Healthcare and Financial Security Analyst within finance.
Given the incredible demand for Cybersecurity Analysts, job seekers with tech backgrounds should consider expanding their skill sets to find a job in the burgeoning industry. Certifications in information security go a long way toward landing a top job, and research from data firm Burning Glass shows being a Certified Information Security Professional can add an $18,000 annual salary premium to what is already a very well-paying role.
