It took a $650 000 (R9.7m) salary for Matt Comyns to entice a seasoned cybersecurity expert to join one of America’s largest companies as chief information security officer in 2012. At the time, it was among the most lucrative offers out there.
This year, the company had to pay $2.5m (R37m) to fill the same role.
“It’s a full-on war for cyber talent,” said Comyns, a managing partner at executive search firm Caldwell Partners who specialises in information security. “CEOs know that, so they play hardball. Everyone’s throwing money at this.”
The threat of digital breaches – and the fines, lawsuits and occasional executive resignations that sometimes follow – has left companies scrambling to scoop up scarce security experts. The growing compensation packages and broadened responsibilities are a dramatic shift for a group of workers who once confined to obscure IT departments, little more than an afterthought to senior management.
Unfilled jobs
In the 12 months ended August 2018, there were more than 300 000 unfilled cybersecurity jobs in the US, according to CyberSeek, a project supported by the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education. Globally, the shortage is…
