Page 46 - Cybersecurity Career Guide, 4th Edition

careers: Cybersecurity Companies
46 START-ENGINEERING.COM
IBM Security Headquarters in Cambridge, MA
Cyber Specialists for Hire
Companies that provide cybersecurity services to both government and industry can be a great career option.
Okay, let’s cut to the chase:
A career in the cybersecurity industry can do wonders for your bank account.
In 2019, when Ashley Richardson- Sequeira started at Palo Alto Networks, one of the country’s leading cybersecu- rity companies, she was a recent com- munity college graduate who had picked
up a few certifications in cybersecurity, was working in retail and earning around $17 an hour, after taxes. Once joining Palo Alto, her after-tax income immedi- ately jumped to $30 an hour. “One of the huge benefits (of working in the cy- bersecurity industry) is that you will typically be well compensated for your work,” says Richardson-Sequeira, who is now 33 and a senior technical trainer for security operations at Palo Alto.
Here’s why the industry can afford to pay top salaries: The global cybersecu- rity market’s worth will top $156 billion this year and mushroom to more than $240 billion by 2025, according to one
recent report. It’s an industry whose goods and services are in high demand because there’s no shortage of bad guys — criminal hackers are constantly at- tacking the computer systems of busi- nesses of every stripe, as well as everyone else’s, including federal, state, and local government agencies, univer- sities, and medical providers. Cyberse- curity companies like Palo Alto, IBM, and McAfee are major players in the nonstop efforts to thwart cyberattacks. They develop hardware, software, and strat- egies to protect networks, data, and de- vices from hacks that aim to steal, lock up, or damage data, or disrupt services.