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 5 January 2026, comparing them to the same period in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 405 385 429
Rank change year-on-year -20 +44 +172
Contract jobs citing Cyber Threat 182 143 170
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 0.49% 0.44% 0.40%
As % of the Miscellaneous category 1.43% 1.38% 1.27%
Number of daily rates quoted 94 76 107
10th Percentile £405 £463 £443
25th Percentile £463 £523 £516
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £580 £606 £612
Median % change year-on-year -4.33% -0.94% +2.00%
75th Percentile £697 £688 £725
90th Percentile £785 £780 £800
UK excluding London median daily rate £586 £613 £568
% change year-on-year -4.37% +7.93% +4.13%
Number of hourly rates quoted 20 2 10
10th Percentile - £38.25 -
25th Percentile £41.94 £41.25 £42.25
Median hourly rate £51.25 £47.50 £44.50
Median % change year-on-year +7.89% +6.74% -31.80%
75th Percentile £75.00 £53.75 £46.75
90th Percentile £75.88 £56.75 £49.00
UK excluding London median hourly rate £55.50 £47.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year +16.84% +6.74% -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 12,707 10,341 13,368
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 34.51% 32.11% 31.21%
Number of daily rates quoted 7,993 6,144 8,872
10th Percentile £281 £265 £263
25th Percentile £406 £409 £413
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £530 £550
Median % change year-on-year -5.66% -3.64% -
75th Percentile £625 £656 £663
90th Percentile £738 £775 £763
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 618 323 525
10th Percentile £14.20 £18.05 £16.25
25th Percentile £18.23 £23.30 £19.99
Median hourly rate £27.36 £33.54 £40.00
Median % change year-on-year -18.44% -16.15% +43.11%
75th Percentile £61.55 £64.88 £65.00
90th Percentile £75.00 £80.75 £76.53
UK excluding London median hourly rate £27.36 £32.50 £44.50
% change year-on-year -15.83% -26.97% +96.16%

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 5 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 5 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 5 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 -8 158 £600 -4.00% 363
UK excluding London -36 101 £586 -4.37% 334
London +3 64 £493 -19.59% 245
Work from Home +9 52 £600 - 386
East of England +1 23 £650 +8.33% 33
South East -13 20 £560 -6.67% 159
North of England -43 20 £501 -28.23% 41
South West +1 17 £775 +14.70% 37
Scotland -5 15 £525 -6.67% 65
North West -23 15 £515 -26.14% 17
Midlands -38 9 £600 -22.58% 18
West Midlands -40 9 £600 -22.58% 2
Yorkshire -42 5 £450 - 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 (1.65%) Microsoft Exchange
2 2 (1.10%) Confluence
3 1 (0.55%) SharePoint
Applications
1 3 (1.65%) Microsoft Excel
2 1 (0.55%) Microsoft Project
2 1 (0.55%) Trello
Business Applications
1 1 (0.55%) Oracle EBS
Cloud Services
1 25 (13.74%) Azure
2 17 (9.34%) AWS
3 13 (7.14%) Microsoft 365
4 9 (4.95%) Entra ID
5 8 (4.40%) Azure Sentinel
6 6 (3.30%) GCP
7 3 (1.65%) Cloud Computing
7 3 (1.65%) Power Platform
8 2 (1.10%) Azure Key Vault
8 2 (1.10%) Microsoft Purview
8 2 (1.10%) SaaS
9 1 (0.55%) Akamai
9 1 (0.55%) Asana
9 1 (0.55%) AWS CodePipeline
9 1 (0.55%) AWS Lambda
9 1 (0.55%) Cloudflare
9 1 (0.55%) GitHub
9 1 (0.55%) GitHub Actions
9 1 (0.55%) OpenDNS
9 1 (0.55%) Serverless
Communications & Networking
1 25 (13.74%) Network Security
2 24 (13.19%) Firewall
3 18 (9.89%) DNS
4 14 (7.69%) SSL
5 13 (7.14%) FTP
5 13 (7.14%) HTTP
5 13 (7.14%) SMTP
6 8 (4.40%) TCP/IP
7 6 (3.30%) Internet
8 5 (2.75%) Wi-Fi
9 4 (2.20%) VPN
10 3 (1.65%) Intrusion Detection
11 2 (1.10%) MIMO
12 1 (0.55%) Intranet
Database & Business Intelligence
1 2 (1.10%) Redis
2 1 (0.55%) MongoDB
2 1 (0.55%) Power BI
2 1 (0.55%) SQL Server
2 1 (0.55%) Tableau
Development Applications
1 2 (1.10%) Git
1 2 (1.10%) JIRA
2 1 (0.55%) Burp Suite
2 1 (0.55%) Metasploit
General
1 50 (27.47%) Social Skills
2 49 (26.92%) Analytical Skills
3 21 (11.54%) Public Sector
4 19 (10.44%) Finance
5 9 (4.95%) Banking
5 9 (4.95%) Telecoms
6 7 (3.85%) Back Office
6 7 (3.85%) Legal
7 6 (3.30%) Presentation Skills
8 5 (2.75%) Influencing Skills
8 5 (2.75%) Law
8 5 (2.75%) Military
8 5 (2.75%) Organisational Skills
9 4 (2.20%) Electronics
9 4 (2.20%) Manufacturing
9 4 (2.20%) Marketing
10 2 (1.10%) Automotive
11 1 (0.55%) Financial Institution
11 1 (0.55%) Inclusion and Diversity
11 1 (0.55%) Investment Banking
Job Titles
1 71 (39.01%) Analyst
2 34 (18.68%) Senior
2 34 (18.68%) SOC Analyst
3 23 (12.64%) Security Analyst
4 19 (10.44%) Senior Analyst
5 17 (9.34%) Architect
6 16 (8.79%) Cybersecurity Analyst
7 13 (7.14%) Security Engineer
8 9 (4.95%) Lead
8 9 (4.95%) Security Architect
9 8 (4.40%) Consultant
9 8 (4.40%) Security Specialist
10 7 (3.85%) Operations Analyst
10 7 (3.85%) Project Manager
10 7 (3.85%) SOC Architect
11 6 (3.30%) Technical Manager
11 6 (3.30%) Threat Intelligence Analyst
12 5 (2.75%) Network Security Analyst
12 5 (2.75%) Network Support
12 5 (2.75%) Senior Technical Analyst
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 13 (7.14%) LDAP
2 3 (1.65%) Microsoft Graph
2 3 (1.65%) SailPoint
3 2 (1.10%) Kafka
3 2 (1.10%) Loki
3 2 (1.10%) React
3 2 (1.10%) REST
3 2 (1.10%) RESTful
3 2 (1.10%) WebSockets
4 1 (0.55%) AWS CDK
4 1 (0.55%) WebCenter
Miscellaneous
1 38 (20.88%) Security Operations Centre
2 29 (15.93%) Management Information System
3 21 (11.54%) Cyberattack
4 19 (10.44%) CSOC
5 16 (8.79%) Cyber Defence
6 15 (8.24%) Security Posture
7 13 (7.14%) Analytical Mindset
7 13 (7.14%) Onboarding
8 10 (5.49%) Cyber Kill Chain
9 6 (3.30%) Cybercrime
9 6 (3.30%) Virtual Team
10 3 (1.65%) Mobile App
10 3 (1.65%) Operational Technology
10 3 (1.65%) Product Ownership
11 2 (1.10%) Cloud Native
11 2 (1.10%) Derivative
11 2 (1.10%) Driving Licence
11 2 (1.10%) Energy Derivatives
11 2 (1.10%) Hybrid Cloud
11 2 (1.10%) Insider Threat
Operating Systems
1 19 (10.44%) Windows
2 17 (9.34%) Linux
3 4 (2.20%) Windows Server
4 3 (1.65%) Android
4 3 (1.65%) Apple iOS
5 1 (0.55%) Kali Linux
5 1 (0.55%) Unix
Processes & Methodologies
1 130 (71.43%) Cybersecurity
2 84 (46.15%) Incident Response
3 75 (41.21%) SIEM
4 64 (35.16%) Security Operations
5 49 (26.92%) Cyber Threat Intelligence
5 49 (26.92%) Threat Intelligence
6 43 (23.63%) Threat Detection
7 36 (19.78%) Information Security
8 35 (19.23%) Cyber Intelligence
9 34 (18.68%) Threat Modelling
10 27 (14.84%) MITRE ATT&CK
11 25 (13.74%) Vulnerability Management
12 24 (13.19%) Continuous Improvement
13 23 (12.64%) Risk Management
14 21 (11.54%) SOAR
15 20 (10.99%) Problem-Solving
16 18 (9.89%) Actionable Insight
16 18 (9.89%) AI
16 18 (9.89%) Analytics
17 17 (9.34%) Stakeholder Management
Programming Languages
1 34 (18.68%) Python
2 25 (13.74%) PowerShell
3 10 (5.49%) Kusto Query Language
4 4 (2.20%) Java
5 3 (1.65%) JavaScript
5 3 (1.65%) Perl
5 3 (1.65%) SQL
5 3 (1.65%) TypeScript
6 2 (1.10%) Rust
7 1 (0.55%) Bash
7 1 (0.55%) Shell Script
Qualifications
1 92 (50.55%) Security Cleared
2 69 (37.91%) SC Cleared
3 34 (18.68%) DV Cleared
4 32 (17.58%) CISSP
5 23 (12.64%) CISM
6 19 (10.44%) Degree
7 18 (9.89%) GIAC
8 15 (8.24%) CEH
9 12 (6.59%) CompTIA Security+
10 11 (6.04%) CompTIA CySA+
11 7 (3.85%) GCIH
11 7 (3.85%) OSCP
12 6 (3.30%) BPSS Clearance
12 6 (3.30%) GREM
13 5 (2.75%) GCFA
13 5 (2.75%) GCIA
14 4 (2.20%) AWS Certification
14 4 (2.20%) Azure Certification
14 4 (2.20%) CFCE
14 4 (2.20%) Computer Science Degree
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 47 (25.82%) NIST
2 36 (19.78%) ISO/IEC 27001
3 23 (12.64%) NCSC
4 17 (9.34%) GDPR
5 13 (7.14%) Cyber Essentials
6 8 (4.40%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
7 6 (3.30%) JSP 440
7 6 (3.30%) QA
8 4 (2.20%) HIPAA
9 3 (1.65%) Accessibility
9 3 (1.65%) GRC
9 3 (1.65%) SLA
10 2 (1.10%) COBIT
10 2 (1.10%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 2 (1.10%) ISO 9001
11 1 (0.55%) Disclosure Scotland
11 1 (0.55%) Government Security Classifications
11 1 (0.55%) ITGC
11 1 (0.55%) PMO
11 1 (0.55%) SOC 2
System Software
1 11 (6.04%) Active Directory
2 2 (1.10%) Virtual Desktop
2 2 (1.10%) Virtual Machines
3 1 (0.55%) Docker
3 1 (0.55%) Snort
3 1 (0.55%) Squid
Systems Management
1 5 (2.75%) Kubernetes
1 5 (2.75%) Nessus
2 4 (2.20%) Terraform
3 3 (1.65%) Computer Emergency Response Teams
3 3 (1.65%) Microsoft Intune
3 3 (1.65%) Nexpose
4 2 (1.10%) Grafana
4 2 (1.10%) Prometheus
4 2 (1.10%) QRadar
5 1 (0.55%) CASB
5 1 (0.55%) CSIRT
5 1 (0.55%) RSA Archer
5 1 (0.55%) Suricata
Vendors
1 41 (22.53%) Microsoft
2 24 (13.19%) Splunk
3 9 (4.95%) CrowdStrike
4 7 (3.85%) CyberArk
4 7 (3.85%) Google
5 5 (2.75%) LogRhythm
6 4 (2.20%) ArcSight
6 4 (2.20%) Palo Alto
6 4 (2.20%) SAP
7 3 (1.65%) Computacenter
7 3 (1.65%) Qualys
7 3 (1.65%) Tenable
8 2 (1.10%) Cisco
8 2 (1.10%) Intel
8 2 (1.10%) Oracle
8 2 (1.10%) QAD
8 2 (1.10%) Rapid7
8 2 (1.10%) ServiceNow
8 2 (1.10%) Tanium
8 2 (1.10%) Zscaler