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 1272 Cyber Security Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 36032 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 2015:
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 $111,446.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $109,341.
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 $97,494.
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 | 3.61% |
| Bachelor's Degree | 69.09% |
| Master's Degree | 22.57% |
| Doctoral Degree | 4.28% |
| Other | 4.93% |
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 | 11.73% |
| 3 to 5 years | 47.13% |
| 6 to 8 years | 23.88% |
| 9+ years | 17.27% |
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.
- Management (37.84%)
- Communication (36.02%)
- Operations (26.83%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (22.49%)
- Problem Solving (20.19%)
- Information Technology (19.95%)
- Leadership (18.36%)
- Research (17.08%)
- Writing (15.4%)
- Security Policies (14.88%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Risk Management Framework (9.91%)
- Cryptography (9.02%)
- Penetration Testing (12.52%)
- Automation (25.98%)
- IT Security Architecture (12.42%)
- Vulnerability Assessments (10.69%)
- Vulnerability Management (14.31%)
- Vulnerability (39.57%)
- Infrastructure Security (8.53%)
- Security Information And Event Management (SIEM) (18.5%)
- Cyber Threat Intelligence (12.38%)
- Computer Science (40.71%)
- Firewall (23.76%)
- Python (Programming Language) (27.14%)
- Security Controls (21.1%)
- Endpoint Security (12.17%)
- Cyber Engineering (30.17%)
- Vulnerability Scanning (9.01%)
- Microsoft Azure (23.23%)
- Amazon Web Services (25.07%)
- Security Engineering (25.14%)
- Cyber Security (56.08%)
- Cloud Security (18.79%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- Security Systems (10.99%)
- Application Security (11.33%)
- Single Sign-On (SSO) (5.58%)
- Incident Response (20.33%)
- Scripting (22.17%)
- Information Assurance (9.11%)
- Authorization (Computing) (10.86%)
- Active Directory (9.16%)
- Agile Methodology (12.77%)
- ISO/IEC 27001 (5.3%)
- Software Engineering (9.41%)
- Information Systems (16.72%)
- TCP/IP (6.86%)
- Google Cloud Platform (GCP) (4.54%)
- Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) (5.04%)
- Unix (7.5%)
- Identity And Access Management (14.07%)
- IT Security (12.6%)
- Virtual Private Networks (VPN) (6.68%)
- Risk Analysis (16.68%)
- Auditing (18.29%)
- Java (Programming Language) (9.9%)
- Kubernetes (6.33%)
- Operating Systems (18.51%)
- Bash (Scripting Language) (7.17%)
- OAuth (4%)
- Terraform (5.96%)
- Application Programming Interface (API) (8.91%)
- Encryption (9.74%)
- Authentications (13.33%)
- Tooling (5.87%)
- Network Security (18.9%)
- Security Requirements Analysis (14.39%)
- CI/CD (8.55%)
- Linux (21.25%)
- Hardening (7.01%)
- Risk Management (11.93%)
- Project Management (9.47%)
- Workflow Management (7.82%)
- Mitigation (9.51%)
- Software Development (9.3%)
- Systems Engineering (13.14%)
- Splunk (13.05%)
- Public Cloud (5.14%)
- DevOps (7.31%)
- Windows PowerShell (13.59%)
- Business Requirements (4.15%)
- Access Controls (7.13%)
- Scalability (4.73%)
- Computer Engineering (7.57%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- Public Key Infrastructure (6.82%)
- Security Testing (5.34%)
- Cyber Security Systems (3.18%)
- Cyber Operations (4.99%)
- Intrusion Detection And Prevention (8.15%)
- Nessus (6.52%)
- NIST 800 (4.24%)
- Assessment And Authorization (4.82%)
- NIST 800-53 (5.45%)
- Cyber Threat Hunting (3.42%)
- Enterprise Security (5.47%)
- CyberArk (4.39%)
- Threat Detection (3.83%)
- Multi-Factor Authentication (3.56%)
- Cloud Access Security Broker Tools (CASBs) (2.46%)
- Cyber Defense (4.79%)
- Windows Defender (1.61%)
- Threat Modeling (7.02%)
- Security Technology (3.86%)
- Information Systems Security (6.76%)
- MITRE ATT&CK Framework (3.32%)
- Plan Of Action And Milestones (POA&M) (4.02%)
- Endpoint Detection And Response (7.93%)
- Data Loss Prevention (5.24%)
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.
- MITRE ATT&CK Framework (4.26%)
- Endpoint Security (15.64%)
- Cyber Threat Hunting (4.4%)
- Cloud Access Security Broker Tools (CASBs) (3.16%)
- Penetration Testing (16.1%)
- Cloud Security (24.16%)
- Security Controls (27.13%)
- Cryptography (11.59%)
- Data Loss Prevention (6.74%)
- Multi-Factor Authentication (4.58%)
- Enterprise Security (7.03%)
- Security Engineering (32.32%)
- Intrusion Detection And Prevention (10.48%)
- Python (Programming Language) (34.89%)
- Windows Defender (2.07%)
- Security Technology (4.96%)
- Security Testing (6.87%)
- Threat Modeling (9.03%)
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
- Information Systems Security Engineer
- Lead Cybersecurity Engineer
- Cybersecurity Systems Engineer
- Product Security Engineer
- IAM Engineer
- Lead Information 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
- Cyber Security Manager / Administrator
- Vulnerability Analyst / Penetration Tester
- Incident Analyst / Responder
- Security Manager
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
- Deloitte (777)
- Leidos (773)
- Booz Allen Hamilton (610)
- Lockheed Martin (476)
- Lumen Technologies (464)
- Motion Recruitment (463)
- Wells Fargo (342)
- SAIC (338)
- Marriott International (308)
- Boeing (293)
North Carolina
- MetLife (87)
- Wells Fargo (68)
- Truist Financial (55)
- Randstad (34)
- Allegis Group (25)
- Motion Recruitment (20)
- Collabera (19)
- Deloitte (18)
- Spectrum (16)
- Google (14)
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!
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.