Security Experts Get Big BonusesSecurity Experts Get Big Bonuses

IT security professionals were in high demand even prior to the terrorist attacks on Sept. 11, and they continue to outpace their IT peers in compensation and bonus pay for certification, according to a recent study by research firm Foote Partners LLC.

Industry regulations such as the Health Insurance Portability And Accountability Act, along with high-profile hacker incidents, are encouraging more IT workers to pursue security certification to become skilled in intrusion detection or database security, says David Foote, chief research officer at Foote Partners.

The study surveyed 29,600 IT workers in North America and Europe. In all, 95% of respondents say their companies are matching or increasing security spending this year versus last year. Some of that money is being used to pay for security training and certification or bonuses for those who obtain certification. For the second quarter, security-certification bonuses increased to 8.6% of base pay, compared with 7.6% a year ago. They're even higher for some workers; directors of information security are in such high demand that they're commanding bonuses of about 20% of base pay.

Holders of the more popular security certifications--Global Information Assurance Certification's Certified Intrusion Analyst, Certified Incident Handler, and Certified Firewall Analyst--commanded bonuses of 12%, 10%, and 9%, respectively, of base pay in the second quarter of this year. That's an increase over bonuses of 8% to 10% in the year-ago quarter.

Security certifications are valuable to Bill Kasko, technology division director for Robert Half International, who hires consultants for the consulting firm to fill contract positions. "Finding a network administrator today is a dime a dozen," Kasko says, but "finding a network administrator with Cisco Certified Internetwork Expert certification is a little bit different." Because there aren't a lot of people with high-end security training, Kasko says, employers are willing to compensate workers at a higher rate.