Cybersecurity roles among most in-demand in US amid rising data breaches

Gorodenkoff // Shutterstock The age of digitization has radically transformed the world we live in, including the nature of threats that businesses around the globe now face. Companies worldwide have boosted their spending on cybersecurity by a whopping 70% in the span of four years since 2019, per Moody’s 2023 cyber survey. Drata used data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics to break down the occupations with the highest projected employment growth between 2022 and 2032, and to explore why information security analysts rank so highly. The growing rate of data breaches is among the most significant drivers of the rising demand for cybersecurity professionals. According to the Identity Theft Resource Center, there were over 3,200 reported data breaches in 2023, up from 1,800 in 2022. Nearly three-quarters of all reported data breaches in 2023 were due to cyberattacks, resulting in over 340 million victims. As the industry keeps expanding, organizations demand talent for a variety of job functions. In the cybersecurity job market, roles are categorized by experience level. Typical entry-level positions include cybersecurity specialists, cybercrime analysts, incident and intrusion analysts, and IT auditors. Mid-level roles sought by employers are cybersecurity analysts, cybersecurity consultants, and penetration and vulnerability testers. Popular positions for advanced-level professionals include cybersecurity managers, engineers, and architects. While the demand for cybersecurity professionals has thrived, the supply side hasn’t kept pace with the evolving landscape of cybersecurity challenges. A 2022 survey conducted by the cybersecurity company Fortinet found nearly 70% of organizations said they faced increased risks due to cybersecurity skill shortages within their company. Over half of the survey participants reported difficulty recruiting and retaining qualified employees for jobs related to cloud security and security operations. Job growth for information security analysts is over 11 times the average Drata Projections from the BLS show that information security analysts are the fifth fastest-growing profession for employment between 2022 and 2032. The demand for skilled information security analysts is projected to grow rapidly in the coming years. As automatization becomes the norm across sectors, businesses will likely experience increased vulnerabilities. This heightened risk, coupled with escalating cybercrime costs and hackers’ increasing sophistication, magnifies companies’ need for information security professionals. According to the BLS, the median annual salary for information security analysts in May 2022 was $112,000. In addition to information security analysts, other professions can have specialties in cybersecurity, such as computer network architects, database administrators and architects, and network and computer systems administrators. Story editing by Shannon Luders-Manuel. Copy editing by Kristen Wegrzyn. This story originally appeared on Drata and was produced and distributed in partnership with Stacker Studio.