Do you want to be a Chief Information Security Officer? Are you curious to know how much is the average CISO salary today?
Companies today need a CISO. As data is growing to be more and more valuable, keeping it safe is vital. This is where CISOs come to play.
But that is not all that they do. As one of the C-suite employees, they have a lot of roles to play. That is why they are then paid well for their service.
So, what roles do they play, and how much is their average pay?
Read on to know more.
CISO Roles Skills
CISO’s main role is to oversee the information systems of their company. Also, they need to oversee their security.
Then, they also need to take care of a team. Or the company’s IT Security team.
Further, some of their tasks are to:
- keep procedures, standard, and policies to safeguard data privacy and integrity
- train other workers on data security
- make sure the company follow regulations and security policies
- make incident plans and manage security breaches
- oversee the making and following of security procedures
These sound a lot, right? There are more. CISOs also need to report and suggest new security ideas on the board.
But what are the skills needed to be one? They need to have both soft and hard skills.
As they would be needing to take care of a team, they need to have strong leadership skills. Also, they need to be a people’s person and have good communication skills.
Then as per hard skills, there are a lot. Like:
- Security Risk Management
- Cybersecurity
- Security Policies and Procedures
- Security Intrusion Detection
- IT Infrastructure
So, how much are they paid?
Average CISO Salary
On average, CISO can get a whopping $165,450 per year. Eye-popping, right?
But that is not it. On a range, their salary can start from around $109,000 to a whistle-worthy $276,000. Woot woot!
This comes with base pay, bonuses, tips, and profit-sharing. In detail, CISOs can get different pay depending on their experience level.
So, let us take a closer look at that here:
- Entry-level. CISOs who are only starting with less than one year of experience can get a nice $106,176 average per year.
- Early career. Those who already have experience of one to four years can get an annual average of $122,539.
- Mid-career. After being on the post for five to nine years, CISOs can get an average of $127,637 a year.
- Experienced. On getting to a decade to nineteen years as a CISO, they can get a $167,006 average per year.
- Late-career. Upon reaching twenty to more years in the role, CISOs can get a very nice annual average of $177,742.
Of course, these may vary per company. But you get the idea. They are paid well, right?
But aside from the monetary pay they get, they also enjoy some other perks. Like:
- Health benefits (medical, dental, vision)
- Stock compensation
- Retirement benefits
Being a CISO sounds fun and rewarding, right? So, go ahead and seize the job!
