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 13 July 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
13 Jul 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 475 409 361
Rank change year-on-year -66 -48 +121
Contract jobs citing Cyber Threat 187 143 239
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.35% 0.44% 0.56%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.07% 1.26% 1.84%
Number of daily rates quoted 120 72 145
10th Percentile £413 £408 £511
25th Percentile £463 £487 £525
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £573 £525 £585
Median % change year-on-year +9.05% -10.26% -0.17%
75th Percentile £648 £625 £738
90th Percentile £763 £699 £850
UK excluding London median daily rate £575 £524 £570
% change year-on-year +9.73% -8.07% +3.64%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 8 2
10th Percentile £60.20 £52.00 £58.80
25th Percentile £65.60 £55.00 £62.63
Median hourly rate £80.00 £72.84 £70.50
Median % change year-on-year +9.83% +3.32% -
75th Percentile - £81.28 £78.63
90th Percentile £101.80 £82.97 £82.60
UK excluding London median hourly rate £80.00 £72.84 £70.50
% change year-on-year +9.83% +3.32% -

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 17,434 11,307 13,019
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.09% 34.60% 30.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 10,677 7,024 8,258
10th Percentile £313 £300 £281
25th Percentile £415 £406 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £525 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year - -2.42% -2.18%
75th Percentile £627 £649 £663
90th Percentile £749 £775 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £500 £475 £500
% change year-on-year +5.26% -5.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 879 530 872
10th Percentile £16.01 £15.48 £12.25
25th Percentile £20.94 £18.87 £15.50
Median hourly rate £43.96 £31.50 £36.50
Median % change year-on-year +39.58% -13.71% +32.25%
75th Percentile £70.00 £58.75 £62.50
90th Percentile £87.50 £77.62 £72.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £43.96 £31.91 £36.05
% change year-on-year +37.78% -11.49% +2.99%

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 13 July 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 13 July 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Cyber Threat in the UK

Cyber Threat
Top 14 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 13 July 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 -61 172 £550 +4.76% 110
UK excluding London -48 125 £575 +9.73% 88
London -62 52 £573 +9.05% 44
Work from Home -50 44 £516 -1.67% 57
North of England -48 38 £588 +17.50% 23
South East -60 35 £563 +12.50% 27
North West -33 29 £588 +17.50% 15
East of England -29 15 £550 -13.73% 15
South West -30 13 £613 +13.95% 14
Midlands -40 13 £625 +4.17% 3
West Midlands -55 13 £625 +4.17% 1
Scotland -15 10 £688 +37.50% 5
Yorkshire - 9 £588 - 7
Wales - 4 £800 - 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 5 (2.67%) Apache Spark
2 3 (1.60%) Confluence
Business Applications
1 1 (0.53%) Dynamics GP
1 1 (0.53%) Dynamics NAV
Cloud Services
1 42 (22.46%) Azure
2 22 (11.76%) AWS
3 19 (10.16%) Microsoft 365
4 14 (7.49%) SaaS
5 11 (5.88%) Datadog
6 10 (5.35%) PaaS
7 9 (4.81%) IaaS
8 8 (4.28%) Entra ID
9 7 (3.74%) GCP
10 6 (3.21%) Microsoft Purview
11 4 (2.14%) Amazon ECS
11 4 (2.14%) Power Platform
12 3 (1.60%) Akamai
12 3 (1.60%) Azure Key Vault
12 3 (1.60%) Azure Sentinel
13 2 (1.07%) Amazon OpenSearch
13 2 (1.07%) Amazon S3
13 2 (1.07%) GitHub
13 2 (1.07%) Serverless
14 1 (0.53%) PowerApps
Communications & Networking
1 21 (11.23%) Network Security
2 18 (9.63%) Firewall
3 13 (6.95%) DNS
4 12 (6.42%) TCP/IP
5 10 (5.35%) SAN
6 9 (4.81%) Intrusion Detection
7 8 (4.28%) HTTP
7 8 (4.28%) SSL
8 7 (3.74%) DHCP
8 7 (3.74%) VLAN
8 7 (3.74%) VPN
8 7 (3.74%) Wi-Fi
9 3 (1.60%) DMZ
10 2 (1.07%) Broadband
10 2 (1.07%) Multicast
10 2 (1.07%) NAS
11 1 (0.53%) Internet
11 1 (0.53%) SMTP
Database & Business Intelligence
1 11 (5.88%) SQL Server
2 5 (2.67%) Big Data
3 2 (1.07%) Elasticsearch
4 1 (0.53%) MongoDB
4 1 (0.53%) MySQL
4 1 (0.53%) PostgreSQL
4 1 (0.53%) Power BI
4 1 (0.53%) Redis
4 1 (0.53%) Relational Database
4 1 (0.53%) Semantic Layer
4 1 (0.53%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 8 (4.28%) Chocolatey
2 4 (2.14%) Git
3 2 (1.07%) GitLab
3 2 (1.07%) JIRA
4 1 (0.53%) Jenkins
General
1 49 (26.20%) Social Skills
2 38 (20.32%) Analytical Skills
3 24 (12.83%) Finance
4 19 (10.16%) Public Sector
5 13 (6.95%) Banking
6 8 (4.28%) Military
7 6 (3.21%) Legal
8 5 (2.67%) Documentation Skills
8 5 (2.67%) Law
9 4 (2.14%) Aerospace
9 4 (2.14%) Organisational Skills
10 2 (1.07%) Local Government
11 1 (0.53%) Financial Institution
11 1 (0.53%) Games
11 1 (0.53%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 1 (0.53%) Influencing Skills
11 1 (0.53%) Investment Banking
11 1 (0.53%) Manufacturing
Job Titles
1 51 (27.27%) Analyst
2 26 (13.90%) Senior
3 23 (12.30%) Architect
4 19 (10.16%) SOC Analyst
5 16 (8.56%) Cyber Threat Analyst
5 16 (8.56%) Lead
6 15 (8.02%) Threat Intelligence Analyst
7 14 (7.49%) Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst
8 13 (6.95%) Security Architect
9 12 (6.42%) Security Engineer
10 11 (5.88%) Security Analyst
11 9 (4.81%) Senior Analyst
11 9 (4.81%) SOC Engineer
12 8 (4.28%) Azure Engineer
13 7 (3.74%) Coordinator
13 7 (3.74%) Lead Architect
13 7 (3.74%) Security Manager
14 6 (3.21%) Cybersecurity Analyst
14 6 (3.21%) Security Specialist
14 6 (3.21%) Trainer
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 8 (4.28%) Elastic Stack
2 6 (3.21%) Kafka
3 4 (2.14%) REST
4 2 (1.07%) Loki
5 1 (0.53%) Django
5 1 (0.53%) JSON
5 1 (0.53%) JWT
5 1 (0.53%) PySpark
5 1 (0.53%) React
5 1 (0.53%) RESTful
5 1 (0.53%) WebSockets
5 1 (0.53%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 23 (12.30%) Security Posture
2 21 (11.23%) Security Operations Centre
3 16 (8.56%) Cyber Defence
4 13 (6.95%) Operational Technology
5 11 (5.88%) Management Information System
5 11 (5.88%) Onboarding
6 7 (3.74%) Cloud Native
7 6 (3.21%) Cyber Kill Chain
7 6 (3.21%) Cyberattack
7 6 (3.21%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
8 5 (2.67%) CSOC
8 5 (2.67%) Private Cloud
9 3 (1.60%) Analytical Mindset
9 3 (1.60%) Data Protection Act
9 3 (1.60%) Enterprise Software
9 3 (1.60%) Enterprise Storage
9 3 (1.60%) MISP
9 3 (1.60%) SCADA
10 2 (1.07%) Hybrid Cloud
10 2 (1.07%) Public Cloud
Operating Systems
1 22 (11.76%) Windows
2 21 (11.23%) Linux
3 3 (1.60%) Unix
4 2 (1.07%) Windows Server
Processes & Methodologies
1 104 (55.61%) Cybersecurity
2 82 (43.85%) Incident Response
3 62 (33.16%) Threat Intelligence
4 59 (31.55%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
5 55 (29.41%) Security Operations
6 54 (28.88%) SIEM
7 33 (17.65%) Continuous Improvement
8 32 (17.11%) Threat Detection
9 31 (16.58%) Vulnerability Management
10 30 (16.04%) Cyber Intelligence
11 29 (15.51%) MITRE ATT&CK
11 29 (15.51%) Problem-Solving
12 28 (14.97%) Risk Management
13 23 (12.30%) Stakeholder Management
14 21 (11.23%) Information Security
15 19 (10.16%) Cloud Security
15 19 (10.16%) Cyber Resilience
15 19 (10.16%) Security Monitoring
16 18 (9.63%) Use Case
17 17 (9.09%) Threat Modelling
Programming Languages
1 31 (16.58%) Python
2 9 (4.81%) Bash
2 9 (4.81%) PowerShell
3 7 (3.74%) Kusto Query Language
4 4 (2.14%) C
4 4 (2.14%) Perl
4 4 (2.14%) Search Processing Language
5 3 (1.60%) C++
5 3 (1.60%) Embedded C
6 2 (1.07%) JavaScript
6 2 (1.07%) SQL
7 1 (0.53%) Go
7 1 (0.53%) Objective-C
7 1 (0.53%) Rust
7 1 (0.53%) TypeScript
Qualifications
1 77 (41.18%) Security Cleared
2 50 (26.74%) SC Cleared
3 25 (13.37%) DV Cleared
4 23 (12.30%) Degree
5 20 (10.70%) CISSP
6 14 (7.49%) CISM
7 8 (4.28%) Computer Science Degree
8 6 (3.21%) GCIH
8 6 (3.21%) GIAC
9 5 (2.67%) Master's Degree
10 4 (2.14%) BPSS Clearance
10 4 (2.14%) CEH
10 4 (2.14%) GCIA
10 4 (2.14%) SANS
11 3 (1.60%) Azure Certification
11 3 (1.60%) GCFA
11 3 (1.60%) MCSE
11 3 (1.60%) Microsoft Certification
12 2 (1.07%) Cisco Certification
12 2 (1.07%) CompTIA CySA+
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 28 (14.97%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 24 (12.83%) NIST
3 20 (10.70%) NCSC
4 17 (9.09%) GDPR
5 10 (5.35%) SLA
6 9 (4.81%) GRC
7 4 (2.14%) PCI DSS
8 3 (1.60%) Cyber Essentials
8 3 (1.60%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
8 3 (1.60%) ISO 19650
8 3 (1.60%) ISO 22301
9 2 (1.07%) ISO/IEC 27005
9 2 (1.07%) NIST 800
9 2 (1.07%) QA
10 1 (0.53%) Def Stans
10 1 (0.53%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.53%) SOC 2
System Software
1 14 (7.49%) Active Directory
2 5 (2.67%) Virtual Desktop
3 3 (1.60%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (1.07%) Hyper-V
4 2 (1.07%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.53%) Docker
Systems Management
1 12 (6.42%) Microsoft Intune
2 10 (5.35%) SCCM
3 7 (3.74%) Ansible
4 6 (3.21%) Terraform
5 4 (2.14%) Grafana
5 4 (2.14%) QRadar
6 3 (1.60%) Kubernetes
6 3 (1.60%) Prometheus
7 2 (1.07%) CASB
7 2 (1.07%) CSIRT
7 2 (1.07%) Red Hat Satellite
8 1 (0.53%) Host Intrusion Detection System
Vendors
1 39 (20.86%) Microsoft
2 14 (7.49%) Splunk
3 11 (5.88%) Tenable
4 8 (4.28%) AppDynamics
4 8 (4.28%) Dynatrace
4 8 (4.28%) Tanium
4 8 (4.28%) VMware
5 6 (3.21%) Databricks
5 6 (3.21%) Google
6 4 (2.14%) CrowdStrike
6 4 (2.14%) SolarWinds
6 4 (2.14%) Tripwire
7 3 (1.60%) Blue Coat
7 3 (1.60%) Clearswift
7 3 (1.60%) Netskope
7 3 (1.60%) ServiceNow
7 3 (1.60%) Trend Micro
7 3 (1.60%) Zscaler
8 2 (1.07%) ArcSight
8 2 (1.07%) Red Hat