Cyber Security Salary Survey 2024

Cyber Security in Ireland continues to be a rapidly growing IT area, forecast to become a global leader by 2030. According to the report that was conducted by Cyber Ireland there are 489 cyber security companies in Ireland offering cyber security services or having internal Cyber Security Teams. It estimated that this sector will need 1,000 additional workers every year. This positive trend attracts foreign direct investments and new companies to establish their presence on the Irish market.

It is estimated that there are currently over 7,300 professionals employed in the cybersecurity area in Ireland. This sector will continue attracting talent from overseas as the demand of these specialists still exceeds the number of Security Engineers in the country. In 2022 there were 6,700 job postings for cybersecurity professionals at the average salary in this sector of €75,000. We are expecting an increasing trend in offering relocation packages and visa sponsorship to overseas candidates in order to fulfil the companies’ recruitment need.

Most cybersecurity professionals have a university degree in computer science, but many companies prefer candidates who also have a certification to validate knowledge of best practices. CISSP (Certified Information systems Security Professional) is one of the most popular certification followed by CISA (Certified information Systems Auditor) and CISM (Certified Information systems manager). For the entry level positions, CompTIA Security + and also Certified Ethical Hecker (CEH) are still respected and often required certifications. Any cloud platform-specific certifications have been in demand by employers for several years and we expect this trend to continue.

Over the last year, we have found that companies recruiting in Cyber Security are looking for candidates that have strong technical skills but are also competent using digital Project Management tools and have knowledge in information security management systems and risk control frameworks such as NIST Cyber Security, COBiT, ISO 27001 etc. We believe that the demand for skilled professionals in this area will grow for the next few years with the salaries and daily rates expected to grow by further 5-10% in 2024.