Cyber security professionals: pay and what the work involves

Occupation 2135 · Professional occupations

Cyber security professionals

Cyber security professionals design, implement, test and maintain cyber security systems and track, investigate and analyse data linked to cybercrime.

How people enter it

Entrants usually possess a degree or equivalent qualification, although entry with other academic qualifications and/or significant relevant experience is possible. There is a variety of relevant vocational, professional and postgraduate qualifications available.

What the work involves

examines IT system for potential threats to its security and integrity and draws up response plans for situations where security is compromised
develops test plans for security systems and undertakes and documents the testing of security systems weaknesses and errors, identifies source of problems and proposes solutions
develops quality standards and validation techniques
makes recommendations concerning software/system quality
deals with and reports on breaches in security
uses specialist software to gather and analyse information and evidence relating to cybercrime and presents findings to law enforcement officials or private clients

Also called

Data security manager · Ethical hacker · Forensic computer investigator · IT security analyst · Technical security consultant

What it pays

Measure	Hours	Basis	Period	Value	Source
2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	None	2026-03	77,000.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	None	2026-03	81,100.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	None	2026-03	90,200.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	None	2026-03	1,100.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	None	2026-03	9,000.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	None	2026-03	91,200.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)
2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	None	2026-03	4,100.00	ONS, Annual Population Survey - employment by occupation (SOC 2020)

Every regional figure

ONS does not publish occupational pay below region. Cells the survey could not support are shown as withheld, with its reason — adding a region split to a specific occupation leaves roughly a tenth of cells publishable.

Region	Measure	Hours	Value	Period
East	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	6,900.00	2026-03
East Midlands	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	2,600.00	2026-03
London	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	14,400.00	2026-03
North East	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	3,300.00	2026-03
North West	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	8,800.00	2026-03
Northern Ireland	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	1,100.00	2026-03
Scotland	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	9,000.00	2026-03
South East	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	15,400.00	2026-03
South West	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	9,600.00	2026-03
Wales	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	4,100.00	2026-03
West Midlands	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	10,100.00	2026-03
Yorkshire and The Humber	2135 : Cyber security professionals	None	5,900.00	2026-03

Common questions

Does pay for cyber security professionals vary by region?

ONS publishes regional pay for this occupation where the survey sample supports it — 12 of 12 cells on this page. The rest are withheld by ONS, and are shown as withheld with the reason, rather than left out.

Where do these pay figures come from?

The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, published by the Office for National Statistics. Figures are shown exactly as ONS publishes them — we do not adjust, model or fill them in, and every number on this page carries the series and period it came from.

Classified alongside this

IT business analysts, architects and systems designers · IT managers · IT network professionals · IT project managers · IT quality and testing professionals · Information technology professionals n.e.c. · Programmers and software development professionals