Cyber Threat Contract Job Trends

Cyber Threats
UK

The table below looks at the prevalence of the term Cyber Threat in contract job vacancies. Included is a benchmarking guide to the contractor rates offered in vacancies that cited Cyber Threat over the 6 months leading up to 29 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
29 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 419 407 408
Rank change year-on-year -12 +1 +165
Contract jobs citing Cyber Threat 176 127 183
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.46% 0.40% 0.42%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.34% 1.24% 1.36%
Number of daily rates quoted 97 72 125
10th Percentile £380 £463 £428
25th Percentile £463 £513 £525
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £575 £600 £600
Median % change year-on-year -4.17% - -
75th Percentile £688 £669 £725
90th Percentile £793 £771 £797
UK excluding London median daily rate £593 £613 £570
% change year-on-year -3.14% +7.46% +3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 15 1 10
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £41.94 £36.25 £42.25
Median hourly rate £47.00 £37.50 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year +25.33% -15.73% -31.54%
75th Percentile £63.38 £38.75 £46.75
90th Percentile £75.00 - £49.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.50 £37.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year +48.00% -15.73% -31.54%

All Generic Skills
UK

Cyber Threat falls under the General and Transferable Skills category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring generic IT skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for generic IT skills 13,125 10,246 13,479
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.10% 32.55% 30.75%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,288 6,069 8,796
10th Percentile £275 £263 £255
25th Percentile £405 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £535
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -1.87% -3.60%
75th Percentile £625 £657 £650
90th Percentile £738 £775 £750
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 624 310 734
10th Percentile £15.00 £19.18 £14.00
25th Percentile £18.45 £23.65 £17.29
Median hourly rate £28.50 £35.00 £35.00
Median % change year-on-year -18.56% - +55.66%
75th Percentile £62.63 £65.00 £60.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £80.90 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.50 £32.50 £35.50
% change year-on-year -15.38% -8.45% +71.46%

Cyber Threat
Job Vacancy Trend

Historical trend showing the proportion of contract IT job postings citing Cyber Threat relative to all contract IT jobs advertised.

Cyber Threat job vacancy trend in the UK

Cyber Threat
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cyber Threat.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cyber Threat

Cyber Threat
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Cyber Threat over the 6 months to 29 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Cyber Threat in the UK

Cyber Threat
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cyber Threat.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Cyber Threat

Cyber Threat
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Cyber Threat over the 6 months to 29 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Cyber Threat in the UK

Cyber Threat
Top 13 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Cyber Threat within the UK over the 6 months to 29 January 2026. The 'Rank Change' column provides an indication of the change in demand within each location based on the same 6 month period last year.

Location Rank Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Matching
Contract
IT Job Ads
Median
Daily Rate
Past 6 Months
Median Daily Rate
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England -15 156 £595 -0.83% 128
UK excluding London -45 90 £593 -3.14% 144
London -3 65 £535 -9.32% 58
Work from Home +13 51 £600 - 140
North of England -50 20 £501 -28.49% 16
South East -22 18 £595 -0.83% 43
South West -9 16 £719 +9.47% 24
East of England -4 15 £553 -7.83% 14
North West -19 14 £508 -27.40% 13
Scotland -5 12 £450 -21.74% 27
West Midlands -33 12 £600 -22.58% 4
Midlands -56 12 £600 -22.58% 12
Yorkshire - 6 £475 - 1

Cyber Threat
Co-Occurring Skills & Capabilities by Category

The following tables expand on the one above by listing co-occurrences grouped by category. They cover the same employment type, locality and period, with up to 20 co-occurrences shown in each category:

Application Platforms
1 3 (1.70%) Microsoft Exchange
2 2 (1.14%) Confluence
2 2 (1.14%) SharePoint
Applications
1 3 (1.70%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.57%) Microsoft Project
2 1 (0.57%) Trello
Business Applications
1 1 (0.57%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 27 (15.34%) Azure
2 21 (11.93%) AWS
3 15 (8.52%) Microsoft 365
4 12 (6.82%) Entra ID
5 6 (3.41%) Azure Sentinel
5 6 (3.41%) GCP
6 5 (2.84%) Azure Key Vault
6 5 (2.84%) Microsoft Purview
7 3 (1.70%) Power Platform
8 2 (1.14%) Amazon OpenSearch
8 2 (1.14%) Amazon S3
8 2 (1.14%) Cloud Computing
9 1 (0.57%) Asana
9 1 (0.57%) AWS CodePipeline
9 1 (0.57%) AWS Lambda
9 1 (0.57%) Cloudflare
9 1 (0.57%) GitHub
9 1 (0.57%) GitHub Actions
9 1 (0.57%) OpenDNS
9 1 (0.57%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 23 (13.07%) Firewall
2 14 (7.95%) Network Security
3 11 (6.25%) DNS
3 11 (6.25%) TCP/IP
4 6 (3.41%) Internet
4 6 (3.41%) SSL
5 5 (2.84%) FTP
5 5 (2.84%) HTTP
5 5 (2.84%) Intrusion Detection
5 5 (2.84%) SMTP
5 5 (2.84%) Wi-Fi
6 3 (1.70%) VPN
7 2 (1.14%) MIMO
7 2 (1.14%) Multicast
7 2 (1.14%) NAS
7 2 (1.14%) SAN
8 1 (0.57%) Intranet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.14%) Elasticsearch
1 2 (1.14%) Redis
1 2 (1.14%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.57%) MongoDB
2 1 (0.57%) Power BI
2 1 (0.57%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 4 (2.27%) Git
1 4 (2.27%) JIRA
2 2 (1.14%) GitLab
3 1 (0.57%) Burp Suite
3 1 (0.57%) Jenkins
3 1 (0.57%) Metasploit
General
1 37 (21.02%) Analytical Skills
2 35 (19.89%) Social Skills
3 22 (12.50%) Public Sector
4 21 (11.93%) Finance
5 10 (5.68%) Banking
6 9 (5.11%) Telecoms
7 7 (3.98%) Back Office
8 6 (3.41%) Military
8 6 (3.41%) Presentation Skills
9 5 (2.84%) Organisational Skills
10 4 (2.27%) Electronics
10 4 (2.27%) Influencing Skills
10 4 (2.27%) Law
10 4 (2.27%) Legal
10 4 (2.27%) Manufacturing
10 4 (2.27%) Marketing
11 2 (1.14%) Automotive
12 1 (0.57%) Financial Institution
12 1 (0.57%) Inclusion and Diversity
12 1 (0.57%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 63 (35.80%) Analyst
2 36 (20.45%) Senior
3 23 (13.07%) Security Analyst
3 23 (13.07%) SOC Analyst
4 21 (11.93%) Senior Analyst
5 16 (9.09%) Architect
6 15 (8.52%) Cybersecurity Analyst
7 9 (5.11%) Security Engineer
8 8 (4.55%) Lead
8 8 (4.55%) Security Architect
8 8 (4.55%) Security Specialist
9 7 (3.98%) Consultant
9 7 (3.98%) Operations Analyst
9 7 (3.98%) Project Manager
9 7 (3.98%) SOC Architect
9 7 (3.98%) Threat Intelligence Analyst
10 6 (3.41%) Cloud Engineer
10 6 (3.41%) Technical Manager
11 5 (2.84%) Cybersecurity Consultant
11 5 (2.84%) Senior Operations Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (2.84%) LDAP
2 3 (1.70%) Loki
2 3 (1.70%) Microsoft Graph
2 3 (1.70%) REST
2 3 (1.70%) SailPoint
3 2 (1.14%) Kafka
3 2 (1.14%) React
3 2 (1.14%) RESTful
3 2 (1.14%) WebSockets
4 1 (0.57%) AWS CDK
4 1 (0.57%) WebCenter
Miscellaneous
1 23 (13.07%) Security Operations Centre
2 20 (11.36%) Management Information System
3 18 (10.23%) Security Posture
4 15 (8.52%) Cyber Defence
5 14 (7.95%) Cyberattack
6 12 (6.82%) Onboarding
7 10 (5.68%) CSOC
8 8 (4.55%) Cyber Kill Chain
9 7 (3.98%) Cybercrime
10 6 (3.41%) Virtual Team
11 5 (2.84%) Analytical Mindset
12 3 (1.70%) Cloud Native
12 3 (1.70%) Enterprise Storage
12 3 (1.70%) Mobile App
12 3 (1.70%) Operational Technology
12 3 (1.70%) Product Ownership
13 2 (1.14%) Derivative
13 2 (1.14%) Enterprise Software
13 2 (1.14%) Hybrid Cloud
13 2 (1.14%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 17 (9.66%) Linux
2 16 (9.09%) Windows
3 4 (2.27%) Windows Server
4 3 (1.70%) Android
4 3 (1.70%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.57%) Kali Linux
5 1 (0.57%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 118 (67.05%) Cybersecurity
2 73 (41.48%) Incident Response
3 56 (31.82%) SIEM
4 50 (28.41%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
4 50 (28.41%) Threat Intelligence
5 49 (27.84%) Security Operations
6 36 (20.45%) Cyber Intelligence
7 32 (18.18%) Threat Detection
8 31 (17.61%) Information Security
9 27 (15.34%) MITRE ATT&CK
10 26 (14.77%) Vulnerability Management
11 25 (14.20%) Threat Modelling
12 20 (11.36%) Risk Management
13 19 (10.80%) Problem-Solving
14 18 (10.23%) Actionable Insight
14 18 (10.23%) Cloud Security
14 18 (10.23%) Continuous Improvement
15 17 (9.66%) Stakeholder Management
16 16 (9.09%) Critical Thinking
17 15 (8.52%) Stakeholder Engagement
Programming Languages
1 30 (17.05%) Python
2 17 (9.66%) PowerShell
3 7 (3.98%) Kusto Query Language
4 4 (2.27%) Java
4 4 (2.27%) Perl
4 4 (2.27%) SQL
5 3 (1.70%) Bash
5 3 (1.70%) JavaScript
5 3 (1.70%) TypeScript
6 2 (1.14%) Rust
7 1 (0.57%) Go
7 1 (0.57%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 83 (47.16%) Security Cleared
2 62 (35.23%) SC Cleared
3 29 (16.48%) CISSP
4 24 (13.64%) CISM
5 23 (13.07%) DV Cleared
6 17 (9.66%) Degree
6 17 (9.66%) GIAC
7 14 (7.95%) CEH
8 12 (6.82%) CompTIA Security+
9 10 (5.68%) CompTIA CySA+
10 7 (3.98%) OSCP
11 6 (3.41%) BPSS Clearance
11 6 (3.41%) GREM
12 5 (2.84%) CREST Certified
12 5 (2.84%) GCIH
13 4 (2.27%) AWS Certification
13 4 (2.27%) Azure Certification
13 4 (2.27%) Computer Science Degree
13 4 (2.27%) Master's Degree
14 3 (1.70%) GCFA
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 43 (24.43%) NIST
2 33 (18.75%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 24 (13.64%) NCSC
4 13 (7.39%) Cyber Essentials
4 13 (7.39%) GDPR
5 8 (4.55%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
6 6 (3.41%) JSP 440
6 6 (3.41%) QA
7 3 (1.70%) Accessibility
7 3 (1.70%) GRC
8 2 (1.14%) HMG Security Policy Framework
8 2 (1.14%) ISO 9001
8 2 (1.14%) SOC 2
9 1 (0.57%) COBIT
9 1 (0.57%) Disclosure Scotland
9 1 (0.57%) Government Security Classifications
9 1 (0.57%) HIPAA
9 1 (0.57%) ITGC
9 1 (0.57%) PCI DSS
9 1 (0.57%) PMO
System Software
1 11 (6.25%) Active Directory
2 5 (2.84%) Virtual Desktop
2 5 (2.84%) Virtual Machines
3 1 (0.57%) Docker
3 1 (0.57%) Snort
3 1 (0.57%) Squid
Systems Management
1 5 (2.84%) Kubernetes
1 5 (2.84%) Nessus
2 4 (2.27%) Prometheus
2 4 (2.27%) Terraform
3 3 (1.70%) Ansible
3 3 (1.70%) Microsoft Intune
3 3 (1.70%) Nexpose
4 2 (1.14%) Grafana
4 2 (1.14%) QRadar
4 2 (1.14%) Red Hat Satellite
5 1 (0.57%) CASB
5 1 (0.57%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
5 1 (0.57%) CSIRT
5 1 (0.57%) Host Intrusion Detection System
5 1 (0.57%) RSA Archer
5 1 (0.57%) Suricata
Vendors
1 37 (21.02%) Microsoft
2 22 (12.50%) Splunk
3 8 (4.55%) CrowdStrike
4 7 (3.98%) CyberArk
5 6 (3.41%) Google
6 4 (2.27%) Intel
6 4 (2.27%) SAP
6 4 (2.27%) Tenable
7 3 (1.70%) Computacenter
7 3 (1.70%) LogRhythm
7 3 (1.70%) Palo Alto
7 3 (1.70%) Qualys
8 2 (1.14%) Apple
8 2 (1.14%) F5
8 2 (1.14%) Proofpoint
8 2 (1.14%) QAD
8 2 (1.14%) Rapid7
8 2 (1.14%) Red Hat
8 2 (1.14%) ServiceNow
8 2 (1.14%) Tanium