Big Four accountancy firms top list of cyber security employers

The UK's 'Big Four' accountancy firms PwC, KPMG, EY and Deloitte are the largest recruiters of cyber security talent, job Site Indeed has revealed.

According to a survey by the company, 5.95% of new hires at KPMG and 5.08% at PwC are in cyber security roles. Similar roles make up 1.99% and 1.47% of new hires at EY and Deloitte respectively.

Making up the rest of the top 10 are Vodafone (1.46%), Hastings Direct (1.43%), Aviva (0.78%), Capita (0.75%), Barclays (0.66%) and Capgemini (0.66%).

Between 2017 and 2018, Indeed saw an increase of 14.58% job postings for security roles per one-million vacancies. This period saw a significant change in information security regulations, with GDPR coming into force in May 2018 across the EU and enshrined in law in the UK under the Data Protection Act 2018.

These roles are also rather lucrative, with IT auditors earning on average 58,328 per year. The most commonly advertised job IT security specialist attracts salaries of around 45,722, while even the least well-paid job in the rankings security engineer still commands a salary over 4,000 higher than the national average of 34,423. 

"Every aspect of a modern company relies on its IT and the growing threat of cyber attack and tightening of privacy laws means demand is rising fast for professionals who are able to protect companies' most precious information," said Bill Richards, UK MD at Indeed. 

"The critical importance of their work, the skill and discretion it requires, and strong demand from employers have combined to drive up cyber professionals' salaries. Cyber security is both a hot topic and a lucrative profession right now."