Cyber Security Engineer
What Does a Professional in this Career Do?
A Cyber Security Engineer designs systems that protect the security of large databases, including databases with customer information and patient files. Examines client computer systems, identifies weak points in security, develops and implements new systems, monitors and responds to security issues.
Job Outlook
There were 1482 Cyber Security Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 47017 in the United States.
In combination with other careers in the Cyber / Information Security Engineer / Analyst industry, which includes the Cyber Security Engineer career, the following graph shows the number of people employed for each year since 2016:
Salary
Many new Cyber Security Engineer jobs have salaries estimated to be in the following ranges, based on the requirements and responsibilities listed in job postings from the past year.
National
The average estimated salary in the United States for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $124,164.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $122,239.
Percentiles represent the percentage that is lower than the value. For example, 25% of estimated salaries for Cyber Security Engineer postings in the United States in the past year were lower than $109,184.
Education and Experience
Posted Cyber Security Engineer jobs typically require the following level of education. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list education requirements.
| Education Level | Percentage |
|---|---|
| Associate's Degree | 0% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 66.96% |
| Master's Degree | 21.84% |
| Doctoral Degree | 3.81% |
| Other | 4.61% |
Posted Cyber Security Engineer jobs typically require the following number of years of experience. The numbers below are based on job postings in the United States from the past year. Not all job postings list experience requirements.
| Years of Experience | Percentage |
|---|---|
| 0 to 2 years | 8.83% |
| 3 to 5 years | 48.64% |
| 6 to 8 years | 26.4% |
| 9+ years | 16.13% |
Skills
Below are listings of the most common general and specialized skills Cyber Security Engineer positions expect applicants to have as well as the most common skills that distinguish individuals from their peers. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is also listed.
Baseline Skills
A skill that is required across a broad range of occupations, including this one.
- Communication (38.25%)
- Management (35.94%)
- Problem Solving (25.59%)
- Operations (25.38%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (22.09%)
- Leadership (19.44%)
- Information Technology (18.88%)
- Research (18.82%)
- Security Policies (17.83%)
- Planning (12.42%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Endpoint Detection And Response (8.43%)
- Cyber Threat Intelligence (14.8%)
- Cyber Engineering (22.09%)
- Endpoint Security (10.28%)
- Cloud Security (20.21%)
- IT Security Architecture (11.29%)
- Infrastructure Security (8.94%)
- Application Security (13.88%)
- Automation (30.56%)
- Amazon Web Services (30.02%)
- Microsoft Azure (26.29%)
- Penetration Testing (15.43%)
- Computer Science (43.44%)
- Incident Response (24.01%)
- Firewall (26.13%)
- Cryptography (10.25%)
- Security Controls (22.84%)
- Security Engineering (25.45%)
- Cyber Security (51.39%)
- Python (Programming Language) (36.41%)
- Intrusion Detection And Prevention (6.93%)
- Network Security (22.36%)
- Vulnerability Assessments (9.64%)
- Vulnerability Scanning (10.74%)
- Scripting (25.8%)
- Threat Modeling (13.26%)
- Vulnerability Management (21.66%)
- Security Information And Event Management (SIEM) (20.16%)
- Risk Management Framework (6.76%)
- Vulnerability (0.03%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- DevSecOps (9%)
- Bash (Scripting Language) (9.14%)
- Workflow Management (9.46%)
- Go (Programming Language) (6.77%)
- Infrastructure as Code (IaC) (6.99%)
- Continuous Improvement Process (5.01%)
- Agile Methodology (11.66%)
- Systems Engineering (9.72%)
- JavaScript (Programming Language) (7.54%)
- Active Directory (7.78%)
- Java (Programming Language) (12.94%)
- Application Programming Interface (API) (10.7%)
- Software Development (11.67%)
- Access Controls (8.97%)
- Auditing (20.34%)
- Authentications (13.59%)
- Software As A Service (SaaS) (6.17%)
- Cloud Computing (4.26%)
- Cloud Infrastructure (7.32%)
- Unix (6.37%)
- C++ (Programming Language) (7.49%)
- Software Development Life Cycle (7.01%)
- Computer Engineering (6.45%)
- Change Management (4.56%)
- Encryption (12.59%)
- Code Review (6.85%)
- DevOps (9.6%)
- Information Systems (15.4%)
- Information Privacy (7.44%)
- Linux (20.14%)
- ISO/IEC 27001 (7.77%)
- Operating Systems (15.22%)
- Risk Analysis (14.17%)
- Scalability (8.51%)
- Identity And Access Management (13.44%)
- Risk Management (11.67%)
- Virtual Private Networks (VPN) (7.42%)
- SQL (Programming Language) (5.65%)
- Tooling (8.93%)
- Project Management (8.92%)
- Kubernetes (9.95%)
- CI/CD (12.93%)
- Security Requirements Analysis (13.44%)
- Network Routing (8.09%)
- Windows PowerShell (15.03%)
- Public Cloud (4.87%)
- Software Engineering (8.8%)
- TCP/IP (6.95%)
- Security Systems (8.66%)
- IT Security (9.53%)
- Mitigation (11.22%)
- Terraform (9.27%)
- Authorization (Computing) (10.27%)
- Splunk (12.1%)
- Industry Standards (7.36%)
- Programming Languages (6.97%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Static Application Security Testing (SAST) (4.4%)
- FedRAMP (4.55%)
- Plan Of Action And Milestones (POA&M) (3.8%)
- Cyber Operations (4.04%)
- Assessment And Authorization (3.46%)
- Threat Detection (6.44%)
- MITRE ATT&CK Framework (3.63%)
- NIST 800-53 (5.6%)
- Cyber Threat Hunting (5.2%)
- Information Systems Security (5.88%)
- Burp Suite (2.41%)
- Cloud Access Security Broker Tools (CASBs) (2.97%)
- Proxy Servers (2.63%)
- Data Loss Prevention (4.51%)
- Intrusion Detection Systems (3.68%)
- Enterprise Security (4.46%)
- Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) (6.62%)
- Security Technology (2.92%)
- Security Testing (6.1%)
- Public Key Infrastructure (6.29%)
- Nessus (5.22%)
- Hardening (7.11%)
- Secure Coding (6.4%)
- Product Security (5.68%)
- Security Strategies (4.59%)
Salary Boosting Skills
A professional who wishes to excel in this career path may consider developing the following highly valued skills. The percentage of job postings that specifically mention each skill is listed.
- Product Security (6.72%)
- Infrastructure Security (10.58%)
- Amazon Web Services (35.51%)
- Automation (36.14%)
- Information Systems Security (6.95%)
- Microsoft Azure (31.1%)
- Computer Science (51.38%)
- Cryptography (12.13%)
- Intrusion Detection And Prevention (8.19%)
- Intrusion Detection Systems (4.35%)
- Network Security (26.45%)
- Risk Management Framework (8%)
- Secure Coding (7.57%)
Alternative Job Titles
Sometimes employers post jobs with Cyber Security Engineer skills but a different job title. Some common alternative job titles include:
- Cybersecurity Engineer
- Security Engineer
- Information Security Engineer
- Cloud Security Engineer
- Network Security Engineer
- Application Security Engineer
- Lead Cybersecurity Engineer
- Product Security Engineer
- Information Systems Security Engineer
- Infrastructure Security Engineer
Similar Occupations
If you are interested in exploring occupations with similar skills, you may want to research the following job titles. Note that we only list occupations that have at least one corresponding NC State Online and Distance Education program.
- Cyber Security Architect
- Vulnerability Analyst / Penetration Tester
- Cyber Security Manager / Administrator
- Incident Analyst / Responder
Common Employers
Here are the employers that have posted the most Cyber Security Engineer jobs in the past year along with how many they have posted.
United States
- Lumen Technologies (1401)
- Amazon (1297)
- Meta (810)
- Marriott International (764)
- Booz Allen Hamilton (491)
- Insight Global (443)
- Amentum (432)
- Beacon Hill Staffing Group (429)
- Leidos (407)
- Cox Automotive (396)
North Carolina
- Wells Fargo (70)
- Truist Financial (70)
- Motion Recruitment (49)
- First Citizens Bank (39)
- The Judge Group (37)
- Lumen Technologies (26)
- Cisco (25)
- Regions Financial (24)
- Randstad (22)
- TEKsystems (19)
NC State Programs Relevant to this Career
If you are interested in preparing for a career in this field, the following NC State Online and Distance Education programs offer a great place to start!
- Computer Science Graduate Certificates
- Cybersecurity Graduate Certificates
- Cybersecurity Master's Degrees
All wages, job posting statistics, employment trend projections, and information about skill desirability on this page represents historical data and does not guarantee future conditions. Data is provided by and downloaded regularly from Lightcast. For more information about how Lightcast gathers data and what it represents, see Lightcast Data: Basic Overview on Lightcast's Knowledge Base website.