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 21 February 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
21 Feb 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 448 422 386
Rank change year-on-year -26 -36 +194
Contract jobs citing Cyber Threat 154 107 216
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.38% 0.35% 0.48%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.12% 1.05% 1.59%
Number of daily rates quoted 86 57 139
10th Percentile £331 £450 £446
25th Percentile £450 £500 £513
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £550 £590 £570
Median % change year-on-year -6.78% +3.51% -5.00%
75th Percentile £638 £638 £675
90th Percentile £768 £725 £794
UK excluding London median daily rate £553 £588 £568
% change year-on-year -5.87% +3.52% -5.42%
Number of hourly rates quoted 14 0 9
10th Percentile - - -
25th Percentile £41.94 - £42.25
Median hourly rate £52.75 - £44.50
75th Percentile £64.69 - £46.75
90th Percentile £75.00 - £47.20
UK excluding London median hourly rate £52.75 - £44.50
% change year-on-year - - -31.80%

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 13,739 10,208 13,597
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 33.54% 33.21% 30.45%
Number of daily rates quoted 8,655 6,183 8,754
10th Percentile £275 £265 £258
25th Percentile £405 £406 £411
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £530
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% -0.94% -3.64%
75th Percentile £625 £650 £650
90th Percentile £738 £765 £752
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £495 £500
% change year-on-year -4.04% -1.00% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 654 324 830
10th Percentile £15.38 £18.51 £13.00
25th Percentile £18.50 £23.30 £16.57
Median hourly rate £30.75 £32.91 £32.50
Median % change year-on-year -6.55% +1.25% +44.54%
75th Percentile £65.00 £65.00 £58.70
90th Percentile £76.60 £82.43 £70.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £30.30 £32.50 £35.00
% change year-on-year -6.76% -7.14% +59.09%

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 21 February 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 21 February 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 21 February 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 -22 134 £550 -8.33% 60
UK excluding London -54 85 £553 -5.87% 59
London -34 49 £485 -17.80% 14
Work from Home -3 37 £600 +1.69% 34
South East -18 23 £595 -0.83% 17
North of England -48 17 £450 +26.40% 16
East of England -13 15 £553 -7.83% 7
Scotland -5 13 £350 -36.36% 5
West Midlands -46 12 £600 -12.73% 7
Midlands -48 12 £600 -12.73% 10
North West -26 11 £325 -8.71% 9
South West -18 7 £675 +28.57% 3
Yorkshire - 6 £475 - 4
Wales -3 1 - - 2

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 (1.95%) Microsoft Exchange
2 2 (1.30%) Confluence
2 2 (1.30%) SharePoint
Applications
1 3 (1.95%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.65%) Microsoft Project
2 1 (0.65%) Trello
Business Applications
1 1 (0.65%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 27 (17.53%) Azure
2 20 (12.99%) AWS
3 16 (10.39%) Microsoft 365
4 10 (6.49%) Entra ID
5 5 (3.25%) Azure Key Vault
5 5 (3.25%) Microsoft Purview
6 4 (2.60%) Azure Sentinel
6 4 (2.60%) SaaS
7 3 (1.95%) Datadog
7 3 (1.95%) GCP
7 3 (1.95%) IaaS
7 3 (1.95%) PaaS
7 3 (1.95%) Power Platform
8 2 (1.30%) Amazon OpenSearch
8 2 (1.30%) Amazon S3
8 2 (1.30%) Cloud Computing
9 1 (0.65%) Akamai
9 1 (0.65%) Asana
9 1 (0.65%) AWS Lambda
9 1 (0.65%) GitHub Actions
Communications & Networking
1 23 (14.94%) Firewall
2 15 (9.74%) Network Security
3 14 (9.09%) DNS
4 11 (7.14%) TCP/IP
5 8 (5.19%) Wi-Fi
6 7 (4.55%) SSL
7 5 (3.25%) FTP
7 5 (3.25%) HTTP
7 5 (3.25%) SAN
7 5 (3.25%) SMTP
7 5 (3.25%) VPN
8 3 (1.95%) DHCP
8 3 (1.95%) Intrusion Detection
8 3 (1.95%) VLAN
9 2 (1.30%) Internet
9 2 (1.30%) MIMO
9 2 (1.30%) Multicast
9 2 (1.30%) NAS
10 1 (0.65%) Intranet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 6 (3.90%) SQL Server
2 2 (1.30%) Elasticsearch
2 2 (1.30%) Redis
3 1 (0.65%) MongoDB
3 1 (0.65%) Power BI
3 1 (0.65%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 4 (2.60%) Git
1 4 (2.60%) JIRA
2 3 (1.95%) Chocolatey
3 2 (1.30%) GitLab
4 1 (0.65%) Burp Suite
4 1 (0.65%) Jenkins
4 1 (0.65%) Metasploit
General
1 38 (24.68%) Social Skills
2 34 (22.08%) Analytical Skills
3 17 (11.04%) Public Sector
4 11 (7.14%) Finance
5 9 (5.84%) Banking
6 6 (3.90%) Presentation Skills
7 5 (3.25%) Organisational Skills
8 4 (2.60%) Legal
8 4 (2.60%) Military
9 3 (1.95%) Telecoms
10 2 (1.30%) Back Office
10 2 (1.30%) Electronics
10 2 (1.30%) Influencing Skills
10 2 (1.30%) Law
10 2 (1.30%) Manufacturing
10 2 (1.30%) Marketing
11 1 (0.65%) Automotive
11 1 (0.65%) Financial Institution
11 1 (0.65%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 60 (38.96%) Analyst
2 37 (24.03%) Senior
3 24 (15.58%) SOC Analyst
4 22 (14.29%) Senior Analyst
5 19 (12.34%) Security Analyst
6 12 (7.79%) Cybersecurity Analyst
7 8 (5.19%) Security Specialist
8 7 (4.55%) Project Manager
8 7 (4.55%) Threat Intelligence Analyst
9 6 (3.90%) Architect
9 6 (3.90%) Lead
9 6 (3.90%) Operations Analyst
9 6 (3.90%) Security Engineer
9 6 (3.90%) Technical Manager
10 5 (3.25%) Consultant
10 5 (3.25%) Network Analyst
10 5 (3.25%) Network Support
10 5 (3.25%) Network Support Analyst
10 5 (3.25%) Senior Technical Analyst
10 5 (3.25%) Technical Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 5 (3.25%) LDAP
2 3 (1.95%) Loki
2 3 (1.95%) Microsoft Graph
2 3 (1.95%) REST
3 2 (1.30%) Kafka
3 2 (1.30%) React
3 2 (1.30%) RESTful
3 2 (1.30%) WebSockets
4 1 (0.65%) AWS CDK
4 1 (0.65%) SailPoint
4 1 (0.65%) WebCenter
Miscellaneous
1 23 (14.94%) Security Operations Centre
2 19 (12.34%) Management Information System
3 16 (10.39%) Cyberattack
4 13 (8.44%) Security Posture
5 12 (7.79%) Onboarding
6 11 (7.14%) Cyber Defence
7 10 (6.49%) CSOC
8 8 (5.19%) Cyber Kill Chain
9 6 (3.90%) Virtual Team
10 5 (3.25%) Analytical Mindset
10 5 (3.25%) Cybercrime
11 4 (2.60%) Enterprise Storage
12 3 (1.95%) Mobile App
12 3 (1.95%) Product Ownership
13 2 (1.30%) Distributed Systems
13 2 (1.30%) Insider Threat
13 2 (1.30%) MISP
13 2 (1.30%) Operational Technology
13 2 (1.30%) STIX
13 2 (1.30%) TAXII
Operating Systems
1 18 (11.69%) Linux
1 18 (11.69%) Windows
2 4 (2.60%) Windows Server
3 3 (1.95%) Android
3 3 (1.95%) Apple iOS
4 1 (0.65%) Kali Linux
4 1 (0.65%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 99 (64.29%) Cybersecurity
2 68 (44.16%) Incident Response
3 48 (31.17%) SIEM
4 46 (29.87%) Security Operations
5 43 (27.92%) Threat Intelligence
6 40 (25.97%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
7 33 (21.43%) Threat Detection
8 30 (19.48%) Cyber Intelligence
9 26 (16.88%) Information Security
9 26 (16.88%) MITRE ATT&CK
10 23 (14.94%) Problem-Solving
10 23 (14.94%) Threat Modelling
11 21 (13.64%) Vulnerability Management
12 18 (11.69%) Risk Management
13 16 (10.39%) Actionable Insight
13 16 (10.39%) Cloud Security
13 16 (10.39%) Continuous Improvement
14 15 (9.74%) Stakeholder Management
15 14 (9.09%) Line Management
15 14 (9.09%) Threat Analysis
Programming Languages
1 29 (18.83%) Python
2 14 (9.09%) PowerShell
3 4 (2.60%) Java
3 4 (2.60%) Perl
3 4 (2.60%) SQL
4 3 (1.95%) JavaScript
4 3 (1.95%) Kusto Query Language
4 3 (1.95%) TypeScript
5 2 (1.30%) Bash
5 2 (1.30%) Rust
6 1 (0.65%) Go
6 1 (0.65%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 69 (44.81%) Security Cleared
2 53 (34.42%) SC Cleared
3 24 (15.58%) CISSP
4 20 (12.99%) Degree
5 19 (12.34%) CISM
6 18 (11.69%) DV Cleared
7 12 (7.79%) GIAC
8 11 (7.14%) CompTIA Security+
9 9 (5.84%) CEH
10 7 (4.55%) BPSS Clearance
11 6 (3.90%) CompTIA CySA+
12 5 (3.25%) CREST Certified
12 5 (3.25%) GCIH
13 4 (2.60%) Computer Science Degree
13 4 (2.60%) Master's Degree
14 3 (1.95%) AWS Certification
14 3 (1.95%) Azure Certification
14 3 (1.95%) GCFA
14 3 (1.95%) GCIA
14 3 (1.95%) OSCP
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 32 (20.78%) NIST
2 28 (18.18%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 19 (12.34%) NCSC
4 13 (8.44%) Cyber Essentials
5 11 (7.14%) GDPR
6 8 (5.19%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 4 (2.60%) JSP 440
7 4 (2.60%) QA
8 3 (1.95%) GRC
8 3 (1.95%) SLA
9 2 (1.30%) HMG Security Policy Framework
9 2 (1.30%) SOC 2
10 1 (0.65%) Disclosure Scotland
10 1 (0.65%) Government Security Classifications
10 1 (0.65%) HIPAA
10 1 (0.65%) ISO 9001
10 1 (0.65%) ITGC
10 1 (0.65%) NIST 800
10 1 (0.65%) PCI DSS
10 1 (0.65%) PMO
System Software
1 13 (8.44%) Active Directory
2 5 (3.25%) Virtual Desktop
2 5 (3.25%) Virtual Machines
Systems Management
1 6 (3.90%) Microsoft Intune
2 4 (2.60%) Prometheus
2 4 (2.60%) Terraform
3 3 (1.95%) Ansible
3 3 (1.95%) Kubernetes
3 3 (1.95%) SCCM
4 2 (1.30%) Grafana
4 2 (1.30%) Red Hat Satellite
5 1 (0.65%) CASB
5 1 (0.65%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
5 1 (0.65%) CSIRT
5 1 (0.65%) Host Intrusion Detection System
5 1 (0.65%) Nessus
5 1 (0.65%) Nexpose
5 1 (0.65%) QRadar
5 1 (0.65%) RSA Archer
Vendors
1 34 (22.08%) Microsoft
2 21 (13.64%) Splunk
3 8 (5.19%) CrowdStrike
4 7 (4.55%) CyberArk
5 6 (3.90%) Tenable
6 5 (3.25%) Intel
7 4 (2.60%) Google
8 3 (1.95%) AppDynamics
8 3 (1.95%) Computacenter
8 3 (1.95%) Dynatrace
8 3 (1.95%) LogRhythm
8 3 (1.95%) VMware
9 2 (1.30%) Apple
9 2 (1.30%) Citrix
9 2 (1.30%) Dell
9 2 (1.30%) F5
9 2 (1.30%) Oracle
9 2 (1.30%) Palo Alto
9 2 (1.30%) Red Hat
9 2 (1.30%) ServiceNow