As our lives become ever more digital both professionally and personally, it stands to reason that there are likely to be more issues relating to cybersecurity cropping up. Incidences of hacking and cybercrime are on the increase, and people’s personal details, whether in a work or home setting, are more at risk than ever.

Demand for IT specialists who can work successfully within the field of cybersecurity are on the increase. Here’s why.

The demand for cybersecurity analysts is increasing, not least because of the rise in cybercrime. Identity theft, illegal accessing of medial or financial records and even social media manipulation are all considered examples.

According to figures from The National Center for Education Statistics, the number of new cybersecurity programs has gone up by as much as 33%, but demand is getting higher as many companies are considering it as a much more critical matter than ever.

Figures from Burning Glass show that in the last six years, there has been a 94% increase in the number of advertised cybersecurity roles! Compared to other sectors in IT, that’s a 300% rise. In fact, roles in cybersecurity now make up roughly 13% of all current information technology posts.

But roles like these can sometimes take longer to fill. On average, it’s estimated that a job in cybersecurity will take fifty days to complete, whereas other IT roles might only take forty-one.

This is because it is often harder to find relevantly qualified people who have the requisite skills. For that reason, cybersecurity jobs will often pay much more than other IT jobs. The industry-standard average pay for a role such as this starts at just under $94,000. That’s just under twenty percent more than a standard job in IT.

Within the field of cybersecurity, there are also different realms of work. You can have either pure or hybrid cybersecurity jobs. As you’d expect, the former is someone who works solely on the subject; the latter is someone who has perhaps absorbed the role into an already existing IT job in a company.

Pure cybersecurity specialists are in higher demand because of their sole specialism and demand for these sorts of jobs will now increase further because of our dependence on cloud computing and the Internet of Things.

As more advanced technologies are developed, thus comes a rise in cybercriminals who will want to find ways around them. Therefore, cybersecurity roles will continue to grow as technology does.

Two examples of this are the Internet of Things and cloud computing. They’ve already had a huge impact on how many security threats professionals are seeing. Skills to help stop attacks and develop solutions to them will need to grow too. This is an exciting prospect for anyone who has an interest in cybercrime and IT.

Employers now see managing cybersecurity as critical and essential. They’ll need well-qualified professionals who can deal with attacks and look out for threats sometimes before they happen.

In the arena of cybersecurity roles, the need for a university or college degree is essential, as is keeping on top of training and skills on a very regular basis. Professionals who are considering a career in cybersecurity must make sure they’re always one step ahead of the game in order to keep succeeding! It’s a highly demanding, but ultimately very rewarding job.