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 1355 Cyber Security Engineer job postings in North Carolina in the past year and 45222 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 $110,742.
State
The average estimated salary in North Carolina for this career, based on job postings in the past year, is $112,664.
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 $89,801.
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 | 68.12% |
| Master's Degree | 21.2% |
| Doctoral Degree | 4.25% |
| Other | 5.38% |
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 | 8.48% |
| 3 to 5 years | 49.34% |
| 6 to 8 years | 26% |
| 9+ years | 16.18% |
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 (37.02%)
- Communication (35.9%)
- Operations (26.61%)
- Problem Solving (23.31%)
- Troubleshooting (Problem Solving) (21.45%)
- Information Technology (20%)
- Leadership (19.02%)
- Research (17.87%)
- Security Policies (15.57%)
- Planning (14.38%)
Defining Skills
A core skill for this occupation, it occurs frequently in job postings.
- Cyber Threat Intelligence (13.2%)
- Endpoint Detection And Response (8.21%)
- Endpoint Security (9.62%)
- Cyber Engineering (22.13%)
- Amazon Web Services (26.1%)
- Infrastructure Security (8.54%)
- IT Security Architecture (11.93%)
- Penetration Testing (15.34%)
- Automation (26.94%)
- Cloud Security (16.96%)
- Microsoft Azure (22.98%)
- Application Security (14.03%)
- Python (Programming Language) (31.53%)
- Security Controls (21.71%)
- Cyber Security (50.83%)
- Incident Response (21.12%)
- Computer Science (41.65%)
- Firewall (25.2%)
- Intrusion Detection And Prevention (7.95%)
- Vulnerability Scanning (9.38%)
- Cryptography (9.48%)
- Vulnerability Management (12.54%)
- Risk Management Framework (7.54%)
- Public Key Infrastructure (6.46%)
- Security Information And Event Management (SIEM) (17.88%)
- Security Engineering (25.15%)
- Vulnerability Assessments (10.24%)
- Vulnerability (41.62%)
- Scripting (24.12%)
Necessary Skills
A skill that is requested frequently in this occupation but isn’t specific to it.
- DevSecOps (6.74%)
- Workflow Management (8.57%)
- Cloud Services (4.97%)
- Java (Programming Language) (11.83%)
- Agile Methodology (12.54%)
- Active Directory (8.43%)
- Auditing (18.5%)
- Authentications (13.58%)
- Software Development (10.33%)
- Technical Support (4.41%)
- Application Programming Interface (API) (10.51%)
- Systems Engineering (10.81%)
- Cloud Infrastructure (5.38%)
- Information Assurance (7.81%)
- Bash (Scripting Language) (8.28%)
- Linux (19.05%)
- Software As A Service (SaaS) (6.22%)
- Encryption (11.29%)
- Unix (6.89%)
- Information Systems (14.62%)
- Information Privacy (6.68%)
- Operating Systems (16.93%)
- DevOps (8.17%)
- Identity And Access Management (12.94%)
- Network Security (22.29%)
- Risk Management (11.36%)
- ISO/IEC 27001 (6.71%)
- Virtual Private Networks (VPN) (7.75%)
- Public Cloud (4.91%)
- Computer Engineering (7.02%)
- Software Engineering (9.02%)
- Project Management (10.3%)
- TCP/IP (7.24%)
- Security Assertion Markup Language (SAML) (4.18%)
- Network Protocols (5.58%)
- Programming Languages (7.08%)
- Security Systems (9.37%)
- Mitigation (10.99%)
- Windows PowerShell (14.67%)
- Splunk (10.88%)
- Risk Analysis (16.38%)
- Hardening (6.37%)
- CI/CD (10.26%)
- Tooling (7.21%)
- Authorization (Computing) (10.37%)
- Kubernetes (8.04%)
- General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) (4.85%)
- Security Requirements Analysis (13.82%)
- Single Sign-On (SSO) (4.8%)
- IT Security (10.36%)
- Terraform (6.96%)
Distinguishing Skills
A skill that may distinguish a subset of the occupation.
- CyberArk (3.09%)
- MITRE ATT&CK Framework (3.8%)
- Host Based Security System (HBSS) (2.37%)
- Cyber Defense (3.48%)
- Cyber Operations (4.46%)
- NIST 800 (3.4%)
- Threat Detection (3.96%)
- Assessment And Authorization (3.28%)
- Cyber Security Systems (2.19%)
- Cyber Threat Hunting (3.41%)
- Information Systems Security (6.29%)
- Data Loss Prevention (4.29%)
- Multi-Factor Authentication (3.08%)
- Enterprise Security (4.89%)
- Cloud Access Security Broker Tools (CASBs) (2.73%)
- Open Web Application Security Project (OWASP) (6.18%)
- Security Testing (6.16%)
- Threat Modeling (10.8%)
- Nessus (4.85%)
- Security Technology (2.89%)
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.
- CyberArk (4.53%)
- MITRE ATT&CK Framework (5.56%)
- Cyber Operations (6.53%)
- Cyber Threat Intelligence (19.35%)
- Threat Detection (5.8%)
- Automation (39.48%)
- Microsoft Azure (33.67%)
- Cryptography (13.88%)
- Python (Programming Language) (46.19%)
- Security Testing (9.03%)
- Scripting (35.35%)
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
- Network Security Engineer
- Application Security Engineer
- Cloud Security Engineer
- Lead Cybersecurity Engineer
- Information Systems Security Engineer
- Product Security Engineer
- Cybersecurity Systems 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
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
- Marriott International (1065)
- Amazon (876)
- Leidos (607)
- Booz Allen Hamilton (602)
- Meta (553)
- Lumen Technologies (529)
- Motion Recruitment (510)
- Allegis Group (437)
- Insight Global (422)
- Beacon Hill Staffing Group (421)
North Carolina
- Wells Fargo (65)
- Truist Financial (59)
- Motion Recruitment (43)
- Allegis Group (42)
- TEKsystems (31)
- The Judge Group (25)
- Cisco (23)
- Actalent (22)
- Collabera (21)
- First Citizens Bank (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!
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.