Cybersecurity Certification Center

Monday, September 15, 2025

Ethical Hacking - Career Earnings Analysis (September 2025)

Colleagues, implementing a well-defined, forward-thinking career development plan can boost your career and income growth over a 30-year life cycle. According to Verified Market Reports the “Ethical Hacking Certification Market Revenue was valued at USD $1.5 Billion in 2024 and is estimated to reach USD $4.3 Billion by 2033, growing at a CAGR of 12.5% from 2026 to 2033.” By making modest investments in your professional training and certification will reward you with greatly enhanced income potential.

Assumptions:

Duration: 30-year career lifecycle (e.g. age 25-55)
Salary: $140,00/year - Cybersecurity Jobs (compensation will vary by location - we will use a US average for our analysis)
Education Level: This model is based upon the individual having a BS/BA degree. A MS/MA degree adds an extra 5%-10%+ to annual income
Training & Certification: 5%-10% income lift/year
Salary - Annual Increase per CPI Inflation: 2.5%/year
Base Case: Junior Level - age 25/1st certification
Intermediate Case: Senior Individual Contributor - age 30/2nd certification
Advanced Case: Mid-Upper Management - age 35/3rd certification
Expert Case: Technical Refresher - age 40-45/4th certification

Junior Level (5 years of experience):

Title(s): Junior Ethical Hacking Specialist, Security Analyst, Junior Penetration Tester, Vulnerability Analyst, Cybersecurity Intern
Base income: $162,260/year
Sample Certs: Certified in Ethical Hacking (ISC2), CompTIA PenTest+, EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker (CEH):

Intermediate (10 years of experience):

Title(s): Penetration Tester, Ethical Hacker, Incident Response Analyst, Security Consultant
Base income: $196.434/year
Sample Certs: Offensive Security Certified Professional (OSCP), GIAC Certified Penetration Tester (GPEN)

Advanced (15 years of experience):

Title(s): Senior Penetration Tester, Cybersecurity Architect, Red Team Lead, Threat Hunter
Base income: $240,046/year
Sample Certs: Offensive Security Web Expert (OSWE), GIAC Exploit Researcher and Advanced Penetration Tester (GXPN), Offensive Security Exploit Developer (OSED)

Expert (Executive-Refresher) (20 years of experience):

Title(s): Chief Information Security Officer (CISO), Distinguished Security Engineer, Security Research Scientist, Director of Cybersecurity
Base income: $391,953/year
Sample Certs: GIAC Security Expert (GSE), Offensive Security Certified Expert³ (OSCE³)

Income Comparison:

Base Case: Junior Level - $162,260/year
Intermediate Case: Senior Individual Contributor - $196.434/year
Advanced Case: Mid-Upper Management - $240,046/year
Expert Case: Technical Refresher - $391,953/year

Note: For a more comprehensive roster of cyber certifications see CIAT, Cisco, EC-Council, Infosec Institute, NICCS along with Coursera, edX, (Pearson), Udacity, and Udemy.

Ethical Hacking Specializations, Master Classes and Certifications:

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Wednesday, September 10, 2025

Cybersecurity - Career Earnings Analysis (September 2025)

Colleagues, implementing a well-defined, forward-thinking career development plan can boost your career and income growth over a 30-year life cycle. According to Grand View Research “The global cyber security market size was estimated at USD $245.62 billion in 2024 and is projected to reach USD $500.70 billion by 2030, growing at a CAGR of 12.9% from 2025 to 2030.” Making modest investments in your professional training and certification will reward you with greatly enhanced income potential.

Assumptions

Duration: 30-year career lifecycle (e.g. age 25-55)
Base Salary (entry level): $139k/year - Glassdoor (compensation will vary by location - we will use a US average for our analysis)
Education Level: This model is based upon the individual having a BS/BA degree. A MS/MA degree adds an extra 5%-10% to annual income
Training & Certification: 5%-10% income lift/year
Salary - Annual Increase per CPI Inflation: 2.5%/year
Base Case: Junior Level - age 25/1st certification
Intermediate Case: Senior Individual Contributor - age 30/2nd certification
Advanced Case: Mid-Upper Management - age 35/3rd certification
Expert Case: Technical Refresher - age 40-45/4th certification

Note: This income analysis does not include annual bonuses or stock options.

Junior Level (5 years of experience)

Title(s): Junior Security Analyst (Tier 1), Cybersecurity Specialist, Junior Penetration Tester, Cybersecurity Technician
Base income: $161,101/year
Sample Certs: Certified in Cybersecurity (ISC2), CompTIA Security+, CCNA-Security (Cisco)

Intermediate (10 years of experience)

Title(s): Security Analyst (Tier 2/3), Penetration Tester, Cloud Security Engineer, Application Security Engineer, SOC Analyst, Ethical Hacker
Base Income: $195,301/year
Sample Certs: CISSP (ISC2), Certified Ethical Hacker C|EH (EC Council), C|PENT (EC Council), Certified Cybersecurity Operations Analyst™-CCOA™ (ISACA), Cybersecurity Information Systems Auditor - CISA ( ISACA)

Advanced (15 years of experience)

Title(s): Senior Security Engineer, Security Architect, Threat Hunter, Forensic Investigator, Cybersecurity Incident Manager, SOC Manager/Director, Director of Cybersecurity, Chief Information Services Officer (CISO)
Base income: $238,312/year
Sample Certs: Certified Information Security Manager - CISM (ISACA), Certified Chief Information Security Officer - C|CISO (EC Council), Disaster Recovery Professional - E|DRP (EC Council)

Expert (Executive-Refresher) (20 years of experience)

Title(s): Principal Security Engineer, Cybersecurity Incident Response Manager, Cybersecurity Consultant, Ethical Hacking Advisor, GRC Advisor, Cybersecurity Auditor/Consultant, Principal Security Engineer, Security Researcher, Lead Cryptographer
Base income: $389,115/year
Sample Certs: Certified Information Security Auditor (ISACA), CompTIA Cybersecurity Analyst (CySA+), Governance, Risk and Compliance Certification - GRC (InfoSec Institute)

Income Comparison

Base Case: Junior Level - $161,101/year
Intermediate Case: Senior Individual Contributor - $195,301/year
Advanced Case: Mid-Upper Management - $238,312/year
Expert Case: Technical Refresher - $389,115/year

Note: For a more comprehensive roster of cyber certifications see EC Council, ISC2, ISACA, Infosec Institute, GIAC, Google, Microsoft, Cisco and IBM.

Cyber Specializations, Master Classes and Certifications (samples)

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