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 18 April 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
18 Apr 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 468 400 371
Rank change year-on-year -68 -29 +176
Contract jobs citing Cyber Threat 151 126 226
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.33% 0.43% 0.52%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.01% 1.27% 1.69%
Number of daily rates quoted 106 73 148
10th Percentile £382 £401 £471
25th Percentile £450 £463 £525
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £525 £575
Median % change year-on-year +4.76% -8.70% -7.63%
75th Percentile £638 £625 £677
90th Percentile £750 £723 £850
UK excluding London median daily rate £575 £550 £569
% change year-on-year +4.55% -3.30% -2.94%
Number of hourly rates quoted 16 3 1
10th Percentile £41.94 - -
25th Percentile £47.99 £80.34 £81.75
Median hourly rate £60.25 £80.68 £83.50
Median % change year-on-year -25.32% -3.38% -
75th Percentile £75.00 £81.56 £85.25
90th Percentile £97.45 £81.88 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £60.25 £80.68 £83.50
% change year-on-year -25.32% -3.38% -

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 14,884 9,928 13,341
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 32.27% 33.74% 30.50%
Number of daily rates quoted 9,296 6,370 8,559
10th Percentile £300 £300 £263
25th Percentile £413 £413 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £538
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -2.33% -2.27%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £775 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £495 £500
% change year-on-year -4.04% -1.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 709 382 907
10th Percentile £16.01 £16.95 £12.25
25th Percentile £21.00 £22.33 £15.17
Median hourly rate £45.00 £32.50 £27.50
Median % change year-on-year +38.46% +18.18% +22.30%
75th Percentile £70.00 £64.51 £57.50
90th Percentile £85.40 £83.20 £67.43
UK excluding London median hourly rate £47.50 £32.28 £26.00
% change year-on-year +47.17% +24.13% +18.18%

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 18 April 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 18 April 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 18 April 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 -72 134 £550 +4.27% 75
UK excluding London -61 97 £575 +4.55% 59
London -49 41 £500 -4.76% 35
North of England -41 34 £484 -2.42% 18
Work from Home -47 32 £588 +13.25% 30
South East -38 26 £575 +9.00% 22
North West -30 23 £476 -3.98% 11
West Midlands -54 13 £600 - 5
Midlands -58 13 £600 - 9
East of England -36 12 £212 -64.67% 2
Yorkshire - 11 £500 - 2
Scotland +1 10 £338 -28.95% 3
Wales -7 1 - - 1
South West -31 1 £525 -4.55% 5

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 (1.99%) Apache Spark
2 1 (0.66%) SharePoint
Applications
1 2 (1.32%) Microsoft Excel
Business Applications
1 1 (0.66%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 35 (23.18%) Azure
2 17 (11.26%) AWS
3 15 (9.93%) Microsoft 365
4 9 (5.96%) Entra ID
5 8 (5.30%) SaaS
6 7 (4.64%) Datadog
6 7 (4.64%) IaaS
6 7 (4.64%) PaaS
7 5 (3.31%) Azure Key Vault
7 5 (3.31%) Microsoft Purview
8 3 (1.99%) Azure Sentinel
9 2 (1.32%) Amazon OpenSearch
9 2 (1.32%) Amazon S3
9 2 (1.32%) GCP
9 2 (1.32%) GitHub
9 2 (1.32%) Power Platform
10 1 (0.66%) AWS Lambda
10 1 (0.66%) Cloud Computing
10 1 (0.66%) GitHub Actions
10 1 (0.66%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 22 (14.57%) Firewall
2 18 (11.92%) Network Security
3 16 (10.60%) DNS
4 11 (7.28%) Wi-Fi
5 10 (6.62%) TCP/IP
6 9 (5.96%) SAN
7 8 (5.30%) VPN
8 7 (4.64%) SSL
9 6 (3.97%) DHCP
9 6 (3.97%) VLAN
10 5 (3.31%) FTP
10 5 (3.31%) HTTP
10 5 (3.31%) SMTP
11 3 (1.99%) Intrusion Detection
12 2 (1.32%) MIMO
12 2 (1.32%) Multicast
12 2 (1.32%) NAS
13 1 (0.66%) Intranet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 10 (6.62%) SQL Server
2 3 (1.99%) Big Data
2 3 (1.99%) Redis
3 2 (1.32%) Elasticsearch
Development Applications
1 7 (4.64%) Chocolatey
2 5 (3.31%) Git
3 2 (1.32%) GitLab
3 2 (1.32%) JIRA
4 1 (0.66%) Jenkins
General
1 30 (19.87%) Analytical Skills
2 27 (17.88%) Social Skills
3 16 (10.60%) Finance
4 14 (9.27%) Public Sector
5 11 (7.28%) Banking
6 7 (4.64%) Legal
7 5 (3.31%) Documentation Skills
8 4 (2.65%) Military
9 2 (1.32%) Law
9 2 (1.32%) Organisational Skills
10 1 (0.66%) Financial Institution
10 1 (0.66%) Influencing Skills
10 1 (0.66%) Local Government
Job Titles
1 52 (34.44%) Analyst
2 35 (23.18%) Senior
3 21 (13.91%) SOC Analyst
4 17 (11.26%) Senior Analyst
5 15 (9.93%) Architect
6 14 (9.27%) Lead
6 14 (9.27%) Security Analyst
7 7 (4.64%) Azure Engineer
7 7 (4.64%) Lead Architect
7 7 (4.64%) Security Architect
8 6 (3.97%) Cloud Engineer
8 6 (3.97%) Cybersecurity Analyst
8 6 (3.97%) Security Engineer
9 5 (3.31%) Consultant
9 5 (3.31%) IT Engineer
9 5 (3.31%) Network Analyst
9 5 (3.31%) Network Support
9 5 (3.31%) Network Support Analyst
9 5 (3.31%) Operations Analyst
9 5 (3.31%) Technical Manager
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (3.31%) LDAP
2 4 (2.65%) Loki
2 4 (2.65%) REST
3 3 (1.99%) Kafka
3 3 (1.99%) React
3 3 (1.99%) RESTful
3 3 (1.99%) WebSockets
4 1 (0.66%) AWS CDK
4 1 (0.66%) Django
4 1 (0.66%) WebCenter
Miscellaneous
1 16 (10.60%) Cyberattack
1 16 (10.60%) Security Operations Centre
2 15 (9.93%) Management Information System
3 12 (7.95%) Security Posture
4 8 (5.30%) CSOC
4 8 (5.30%) Cyber Defence
4 8 (5.30%) Onboarding
4 8 (5.30%) Operational Technology
5 5 (3.31%) Analytical Mindset
5 5 (3.31%) Cloud Native
5 5 (3.31%) Private Cloud
5 5 (3.31%) Virtual Team
6 4 (2.65%) Enterprise Storage
7 3 (1.99%) Cybercrime
7 3 (1.99%) Data Protection Act
7 3 (1.99%) Derivative
7 3 (1.99%) Energy Derivatives
7 3 (1.99%) MISP
7 3 (1.99%) Product Ownership
8 2 (1.32%) STIX
Operating Systems
1 19 (12.58%) Linux
1 19 (12.58%) Windows
2 3 (1.99%) Windows Server
3 1 (0.66%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 78 (51.66%) Cybersecurity
2 56 (37.09%) Incident Response
3 40 (26.49%) SIEM
4 31 (20.53%) Security Operations
5 27 (17.88%) Threat Detection
6 26 (17.22%) Threat Intelligence
7 24 (15.89%) Problem-Solving
8 23 (15.23%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
9 21 (13.91%) Threat Modelling
10 19 (12.58%) Information Security
11 17 (11.26%) Risk Management
11 17 (11.26%) Vulnerability Management
12 16 (10.60%) Continuous Improvement
13 15 (9.93%) Cyber Intelligence
14 14 (9.27%) Cloud Security
14 14 (9.27%) MITRE ATT&CK
15 13 (8.61%) Analytics
16 12 (7.95%) AI
16 12 (7.95%) Security Architecture
17 11 (7.28%) Disaster Recovery
Programming Languages
1 28 (18.54%) Python
2 8 (5.30%) PowerShell
3 3 (1.99%) C
3 3 (1.99%) C++
3 3 (1.99%) Embedded C
3 3 (1.99%) JavaScript
3 3 (1.99%) Kusto Query Language
3 3 (1.99%) Rust
3 3 (1.99%) SQL
3 3 (1.99%) TypeScript
4 2 (1.32%) Bash
5 1 (0.66%) Go
5 1 (0.66%) Perl
5 1 (0.66%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 58 (38.41%) Security Cleared
2 49 (32.45%) SC Cleared
3 18 (11.92%) Degree
4 16 (10.60%) DV Cleared
5 12 (7.95%) CISSP
6 8 (5.30%) CISM
6 8 (5.30%) CompTIA Security+
7 6 (3.97%) BPSS Clearance
7 6 (3.97%) Computer Science Degree
7 6 (3.97%) GIAC
8 5 (3.31%) CEH
8 5 (3.31%) GCIH
9 3 (1.99%) CREST Certified
9 3 (1.99%) Master's Degree
10 2 (1.32%) Azure Certification
10 2 (1.32%) CompTIA CySA+
10 2 (1.32%) CRISC
10 2 (1.32%) GCFA
10 2 (1.32%) HND
10 2 (1.32%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 18 (11.92%) NIST
2 15 (9.93%) NCSC
3 12 (7.95%) ISO/IEC 27001
4 8 (5.30%) GRC
5 7 (4.64%) SLA
6 3 (1.99%) Cyber Essentials
6 3 (1.99%) QA
7 2 (1.32%) GDPR
7 2 (1.32%) PCI DSS
7 2 (1.32%) SOC 2
8 1 (0.66%) Government Security Classifications
8 1 (0.66%) ISO 19650
8 1 (0.66%) ITGC
8 1 (0.66%) NIST 800
8 1 (0.66%) PMO
System Software
1 15 (9.93%) Active Directory
2 7 (4.64%) Virtual Desktop
3 5 (3.31%) Virtual Machines
4 2 (1.32%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.66%) Docker
Systems Management
1 7 (4.64%) Microsoft Intune
1 7 (4.64%) SCCM
2 5 (3.31%) Prometheus
3 4 (2.65%) Terraform
4 3 (1.99%) Ansible
4 3 (1.99%) Grafana
5 2 (1.32%) QRadar
5 2 (1.32%) Red Hat Satellite
6 1 (0.66%) CASB
6 1 (0.66%) CSIRT
6 1 (0.66%) Host Intrusion Detection System
6 1 (0.66%) Kubernetes
Vendors
1 32 (21.19%) Microsoft
2 15 (9.93%) Splunk
3 9 (5.96%) Tenable
4 7 (4.64%) AppDynamics
4 7 (4.64%) Dynatrace
4 7 (4.64%) VMware
5 5 (3.31%) CrowdStrike
5 5 (3.31%) CyberArk
5 5 (3.31%) Tanium
6 4 (2.65%) Google
6 4 (2.65%) Intel
7 3 (1.99%) Apple
7 3 (1.99%) Databricks
8 2 (1.32%) Citrix
8 2 (1.32%) Dell
8 2 (1.32%) F5
8 2 (1.32%) Red Hat
9 1 (0.66%) Oracle
9 1 (0.66%) Proofpoint
9 1 (0.66%) Salesforce