Fastest Growing Cybersecurity Skills in 2021

The pressure on organisations to digitally transform, coupled with the increase in personal and corporate cyber-risks driven by the rapid transition to remote working, means the skills required for effective cyber-security defence have taken a front seat as businesses increase their investments in data security tools and capabilities.

Cybersecurity's fastest-growing skill areas reflect the high priority organizations place on building secure digital infrastructures that can scale. Application Development Security and Cloud Security are by far the fastest-growing skill areas in cybersecurity, with projected 5-year growth of 164% and 115%, respectively. This underscores the shift from retroactive security strategies to proactive security strategies. According to The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics' Information Security Analyst's Outlook, cybersecurity jobs are among the fastest-growing career areas nationally. The BLS predicts cybersecurity jobs will grow 31% through 2029, over seven times faster than the national average job growth of 4%. 

Burning Glass, a leading labour market analytics firm, has been tracking demand for cybersecurity skills based on its database of more than one billion current and historical job postings. They published the results of their analysis of the top 10 cybersecurity skills for 2021. Their report of the 10 cybersecurity skills for 2021 can be downloaded here.

Cloud Security skills are the most lucrative of all, predicted to deliver a $15,008 salary boost in 2021. Demand for specific Cloud Security skills is far outpacing the broader demand for cybersecurity skills in the labour market. Burning Glass predicts the fastest-growing skills over the next five years include Azure Security (+164%), Cloud Security Infrastructure (+144%), Google Cloud Security (+135%), Public Cloud Security (+121%), Cloud Security Architecture (+103%). There are 19,477 positions available for cybersecurity professionals with Cloud Security skills.