SANS survey shows security salaries
With median salary and bonus income of $106,326, chief information security officers ended the year well-compensated, according to the SANS Institute.
Results of a 2005 information security salary and career advancement survey, conducted by the SANS Institute, show that many senior security executives received six-figure incomes last year.
With a median, or midpoint, salary and bonus income of $106,326, chief information security officers, chief risk officers and chief privacy officers ended the year well-compensated, according to institute officials.
SANS, which offers network and systems administration training, stated compensation for information security jobs is strong and growing. It reported a median salary and bonus income of $78,583 for professional security technology and policy employees. Median and bonus income for security engineers, Web security managers and other technical employees with similar titles was $75,275.
SANS reported that 22.3 percent of the survey’s 4,250 participants were federal, state and local government contractors.
Responding to an open-ended question about “the single best thing your employer does to make you enjoy working,” the highest number (28 percent) of survey participants answered “trust” or a variation thereof. They answered, for example, using words such as autonomy, freedom, respect, support, independence, apparent confidence, empowerment and encouragement.