Information Security Contract Job Trends

Information Security (InfoSec)
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and contractor rates for jobs requiring Information Security skills. It covers contract job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 5 January 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
5 Jan 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 162 124 94
Rank change year-on-year -38 -30 +29
Contract jobs citing Information Security 643 651 1,024
As % of all contract jobs in the UK 1.75% 2.02% 2.39%
As % of the Processes & Methodologies category 1.98% 2.29% 2.72%
Number of daily rates quoted 343 387 726
10th Percentile £363 £360 £400
25th Percentile £450 £480 £481
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £543 £575 £575
Median % change year-on-year -5.65% - -4.17%
75th Percentile £650 £675 £688
90th Percentile £775 £795 £775
UK excluding London median daily rate £488 £565 £550
% change year-on-year -13.72% +2.73% -
Number of hourly rates quoted 79 20 53
10th Percentile £17.49 £15.31 £15.91
25th Percentile £20.71 £19.06 £42.25
Median hourly rate £33.50 £24.18 £50.00
Median % change year-on-year +38.54% -51.64% -23.08%
75th Percentile £65.00 £37.25 £83.40
90th Percentile £82.75 £46.38 -
UK excluding London median hourly rate £33.50 £22.09 £50.00
% change year-on-year +51.65% -55.82% -23.37%

All Process & Methodology Skills
UK

Information Security falls under the Processes and Methodologies category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all contract job vacancies requiring process or methodology skills.

Contract vacancies with a requirement for process or methodology skills 32,397 28,487 37,627
As % of all contract IT jobs advertised in the UK 87.99% 88.45% 87.83%
Number of daily rates quoted 20,485 17,308 25,038
10th Percentile £304 £308 £305
25th Percentile £406 £413 £419
Median daily rate (50th Percentile) £500 £525 £525
Median % change year-on-year -4.76% - -4.55%
75th Percentile £615 £638 £650
90th Percentile £720 £738 £743
UK excluding London median daily rate £475 £500 £500
% change year-on-year -5.00% - -
Number of hourly rates quoted 2,000 924 1,538
10th Percentile £14.74 £15.62 £14.25
25th Percentile £17.69 £20.43 £18.67
Median hourly rate £25.15 £32.50 £42.25
Median % change year-on-year -22.62% -23.07% +20.71%
75th Percentile £55.00 £62.50 £65.00
90th Percentile £69.65 £75.00 £77.50
UK excluding London median hourly rate £23.83 £30.62 £44.50
% change year-on-year -22.18% -31.20% +42.86%

Information Security
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Information Security job vacancy trend in the UK

Information Security
Daily Rate Trend

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Information Security.

Contractor daily rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Information Security

Information Security
Daily Rate Histogram

Daily rate distribution for jobs citing Information Security over the 6 months to 5 January 2026.

Daily rate histogram for Information Security in the UK

Information Security
Hourly Rate Trend

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Information Security.

Contractor hourly rate distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Information Security

Information Security
Hourly Rate Histogram

Hourly rate distribution of jobs citing Information Security over the 6 months to 5 January 2026.

Hourly rate histogram for Information Security in the UK

Information Security
Top 16 Contract Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median contractor rates quoted in IT jobs citing Information Security 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 -39 571 £543 -9.58% 333
UK excluding London -38 307 £488 -13.72% 264
London -20 260 £576 -4.08% 92
Work from Home -8 190 £550 - 165
South East -36 88 £569 +3.41% 76
North of England -44 72 £475 -13.64% 70
North West -31 46 £466 -12.99% 43
Midlands -31 45 £403 -42.19% 42
South West -6 41 £500 -25.37% 33
East of England +8 39 £553 -7.83% 37
West Midlands -47 27 £403 -47.90% 28
Yorkshire -35 23 £477 -13.27% 23
East Midlands -10 18 £413 +37.50% 13
Scotland -3 17 £438 -2.78% 6
Wales 0 5 £388 -44.64% 2
North East -13 3 £550 -32.52% 4

Information Security
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 26 (4.04%) SharePoint
2 17 (2.64%) Confluence
3 14 (2.18%) Microsoft Exchange
4 7 (1.09%) Mattermost
4 7 (1.09%) Skype for Business
5 6 (0.93%) IIS
6 4 (0.62%) Oracle Collaboration Suite
7 1 (0.16%) Apache
7 1 (0.16%) Apache Airflow
7 1 (0.16%) WebSphere
7 1 (0.16%) WebSphere Application Server
Applications
1 60 (9.33%) Microsoft Office
2 28 (4.35%) Microsoft Excel
3 14 (2.18%) Microsoft PowerPoint
4 5 (0.78%) MS Visio
5 4 (0.62%) Microsoft Project
6 3 (0.47%) Navisworks
6 3 (0.47%) Revit
7 2 (0.31%) ProjectWise
Business Applications
1 15 (2.33%) Remedy ITSM
2 7 (1.09%) Oracle EBS
3 2 (0.31%) assyst
3 2 (0.31%) SAP GRC
3 2 (0.31%) Temenos T24
4 1 (0.16%) NEC Housing
4 1 (0.16%) Salesforce CRM
4 1 (0.16%) Teamcenter
Cloud Services
1 115 (17.88%) Azure
2 79 (12.29%) AWS
3 38 (5.91%) Microsoft 365
4 31 (4.82%) Entra ID
5 30 (4.67%) GCP
6 25 (3.89%) Power Platform
7 19 (2.95%) SaaS
8 12 (1.87%) Azure Sentinel
9 8 (1.24%) OCI
9 8 (1.24%) OneDrive
10 7 (1.09%) Microsoft Purview
10 7 (1.09%) Power Automate
11 6 (0.93%) AWS CloudFormation
11 6 (0.93%) Cloud Computing
11 6 (0.93%) PowerApps
12 5 (0.78%) Azure DevOps
12 5 (0.78%) GitHub
13 4 (0.62%) Azure Data Factory
13 4 (0.62%) IaaS
13 4 (0.62%) PaaS
Communications & Networking
1 71 (11.04%) Firewall
2 44 (6.84%) Network Security
3 34 (5.29%) DNS
4 22 (3.42%) HTTP
4 22 (3.42%) TCP/IP
5 17 (2.64%) SMTP
6 16 (2.49%) SSH
6 16 (2.49%) SSL
7 15 (2.33%) FTP
8 14 (2.18%) Wireless
9 13 (2.02%) DHCP
9 13 (2.02%) WAN
10 12 (1.87%) Internet
11 10 (1.56%) VPN
12 9 (1.40%) Intrusion Detection
13 8 (1.24%) Wi-Fi
14 7 (1.09%) Skype
15 6 (0.93%) LAN
16 4 (0.62%) NGFW
16 4 (0.62%) OSPF
Database & Business Intelligence
1 22 (3.42%) Power BI
2 11 (1.71%) Data Warehouse
3 6 (0.93%) SQL Server
4 5 (0.78%) GIS
5 4 (0.62%) Data Lake
5 4 (0.62%) SQL Server Reporting Services
6 3 (0.47%) Amazon RDS
6 3 (0.47%) Metadata
6 3 (0.47%) NoSQL
6 3 (0.47%) Tableau
7 2 (0.31%) Amazon Aurora
7 2 (0.31%) Amazon Redshift
7 2 (0.31%) Big Data
7 2 (0.31%) BigQuery
7 2 (0.31%) EDRMS
7 2 (0.31%) Electronic Patient Records
7 2 (0.31%) MongoDB
7 2 (0.31%) Power Query
7 2 (0.31%) Redis
7 2 (0.31%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 24 (3.73%) JIRA
2 12 (1.87%) Burp Suite
3 10 (1.56%) Metasploit
4 9 (1.40%) Jenkins
5 4 (0.62%) Artifactory
5 4 (0.62%) Git
6 2 (0.31%) Atlassian Bamboo
7 1 (0.16%) Balsamiq
7 1 (0.16%) Eclipse
7 1 (0.16%) GCC
7 1 (0.16%) MSI
General
1 252 (39.19%) Social Skills
2 141 (21.93%) Finance
3 90 (14.00%) Analytical Skills
4 81 (12.60%) Public Sector
5 47 (7.31%) Legal
6 36 (5.60%) Banking
7 29 (4.51%) Organisational Skills
8 18 (2.80%) Manufacturing
9 17 (2.64%) Presentation Skills
10 14 (2.18%) Telecoms
11 13 (2.02%) Influencing Skills
11 13 (2.02%) Military
12 11 (1.71%) Documentation Skills
12 11 (1.71%) Law
12 11 (1.71%) Police
13 8 (1.24%) Retail
14 7 (1.09%) Inclusion and Diversity
14 7 (1.09%) Local Government
15 6 (0.93%) Investment Banking
15 6 (0.93%) Spanish Language
Job Titles
1 154 (23.95%) Analyst
2 56 (8.71%) Consultant
3 49 (7.62%) Architect
4 47 (7.31%) Security Analyst
4 47 (7.31%) Senior
5 38 (5.91%) Security Engineer
6 37 (5.75%) Support Analyst
7 36 (5.60%) Security Manager
8 32 (4.98%) Lead
8 32 (4.98%) Security Architect
9 22 (3.42%) Security Consultant
10 21 (3.27%) Security Specialist
11 20 (3.11%) Security Officer
12 18 (2.80%) Coordinator
12 18 (2.80%) Information Analyst
12 18 (2.80%) Information Security Analyst
12 18 (2.80%) SOC Analyst
13 17 (2.64%) IT Analyst
14 15 (2.33%) Cybersecurity Manager
14 15 (2.33%) IT Support
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (2.95%) LDAP
2 13 (2.02%) OAuth
3 10 (1.56%) SailPoint
4 9 (1.40%) OpenID
4 9 (1.40%) SAML
5 8 (1.24%) Middleware
6 7 (1.09%) OAuth2
6 7 (1.09%) Oracle Fusion
7 5 (0.78%) Qt
8 4 (0.62%) Elastic Stack
8 4 (0.62%) Spring
8 4 (0.62%) Spring Boot
9 3 (0.47%) ADO
9 3 (0.47%) ModSecurity
9 3 (0.47%) REST
10 2 (0.31%) Flask
10 2 (0.31%) GraphQL
10 2 (0.31%) Kafka
10 2 (0.31%) Keycloak
10 2 (0.31%) RESTful
Miscellaneous
1 128 (19.91%) Management Information System
2 82 (12.75%) Security Posture
3 36 (5.60%) Cyber Threat
4 23 (3.58%) PKI
5 22 (3.42%) Security Operations Centre
6 19 (2.95%) Analytical Mindset
7 17 (2.64%) Onboarding
8 16 (2.49%) CSOC
8 16 (2.49%) Operational Technology
9 15 (2.33%) Cyberattack
9 15 (2.33%) Data Centre
10 13 (2.02%) Cloud Native
11 12 (1.87%) Enterprise Software
11 12 (1.87%) Tandem
12 11 (1.71%) Insider Threat
13 10 (1.56%) Data Protection Act
13 10 (1.56%) Product Ownership
14 8 (1.24%) Greenfield Project
14 8 (1.24%) Mobile App
15 7 (1.09%) Cyber Defence
Operating Systems
1 73 (11.35%) Windows
2 47 (7.31%) Linux
3 16 (2.49%) Unix
4 15 (2.33%) Windows Server
5 3 (0.47%) Kali Linux
5 3 (0.47%) Mac OS
5 3 (0.47%) Windows 10
6 1 (0.16%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
6 1 (0.16%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 225 (34.99%) Cybersecurity
2 155 (24.11%) Risk Management
3 121 (18.82%) Problem-Solving
4 103 (16.02%) Stakeholder Management
5 98 (15.24%) Incident Response
6 94 (14.62%) Data Protection
7 83 (12.91%) Continuous Improvement
8 74 (11.51%) ITIL
9 71 (11.04%) Cloud Security
10 67 (10.42%) Security Operations
11 66 (10.26%) Agile
12 64 (9.95%) SIEM
13 63 (9.80%) Security Management
14 60 (9.33%) Stakeholder Engagement
15 53 (8.24%) Computer Science
16 51 (7.93%) Threat Modelling
17 44 (6.84%) Incident Management
17 44 (6.84%) Regulatory Compliance
18 43 (6.69%) Information Security Management
18 43 (6.69%) Roadmaps
Programming Languages
1 59 (9.18%) Python
2 50 (7.78%) PowerShell
3 36 (5.60%) SQL
4 8 (1.24%) Bash
4 8 (1.24%) Java
5 5 (0.78%) C++
6 4 (0.62%) Kotlin
7 3 (0.47%) Kusto Query Language
7 3 (0.47%) Perl
7 3 (0.47%) R
8 2 (0.31%) C#
8 2 (0.31%) Data Analysis Expressions
8 2 (0.31%) Go
8 2 (0.31%) JavaScript
8 2 (0.31%) Rust
8 2 (0.31%) Solidity
9 1 (0.16%) ANSI SQL
9 1 (0.16%) Bicep
9 1 (0.16%) T-SQL
9 1 (0.16%) VBScript
Qualifications
1 176 (27.37%) Security Cleared
2 134 (20.84%) SC Cleared
3 122 (18.97%) Degree
4 111 (17.26%) CISSP
5 84 (13.06%) CISM
6 46 (7.15%) DV Cleared
7 40 (6.22%) Computer Science Degree
8 36 (5.60%) CISA
9 25 (3.89%) Master's Degree
10 23 (3.58%) Cisco Certification
11 20 (3.11%) ITIL Certification
12 19 (2.95%) BPSS Clearance
13 18 (2.80%) CRISC
13 18 (2.80%) ISO 27001 Lead Implementer
14 17 (2.64%) ISO 27001 Lead Auditor
15 16 (2.49%) (ISC)2 CCSP
16 13 (2.02%) CCSP
17 12 (1.87%) Azure Certification
17 12 (1.87%) CEH
17 12 (1.87%) Postgraduate
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 185 (28.77%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 145 (22.55%) NIST
3 104 (16.17%) GDPR
4 59 (9.18%) GRC
5 37 (5.75%) PCI DSS
6 28 (4.35%) Cyber Essentials
7 26 (4.04%) COBIT
8 21 (3.27%) NCSC
9 19 (2.95%) PMO
9 19 (2.95%) QA
10 16 (2.49%) Accessibility
11 14 (2.18%) Def Stans
11 14 (2.18%) Sarbanes-Oxley
12 13 (2.02%) NIST 800
13 12 (1.87%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
13 12 (1.87%) SLA
14 9 (1.40%) JSP 440
14 9 (1.40%) RMADS
15 7 (1.09%) ISO/IEC 27002 (supersedes ISO/IEC 17799)
15 7 (1.09%) ISO/IEC 27005
System Software
1 53 (8.24%) Active Directory
2 15 (2.33%) Virtual Machines
3 10 (1.56%) Docker
4 4 (0.62%) VMware Infrastructure
5 1 (0.16%) BitLocker
5 1 (0.16%) Hyper-V
5 1 (0.16%) Microsoft App-V
5 1 (0.16%) Virtual Desktop
5 1 (0.16%) VMware Workstation
Systems Management
1 23 (3.58%) Microsoft Intune
2 17 (2.64%) Kubernetes
3 16 (2.49%) SCCM
4 15 (2.33%) HP SiteScope
4 15 (2.33%) SCOM
5 13 (2.02%) Ansible
5 13 (2.02%) QRadar
6 12 (1.87%) Terraform
7 11 (1.71%) Nmap
8 6 (0.93%) CASB
8 6 (0.93%) SCOrch
8 6 (0.93%) WSUS
9 5 (0.78%) Grafana
10 4 (0.62%) CSIRT
10 4 (0.62%) Prometheus
11 3 (0.47%) FortiGate
11 3 (0.47%) Functional Safety
12 2 (0.31%) Jamf Pro
12 2 (0.31%) Progress Chef
12 2 (0.31%) Puppet
Vendors
1 133 (20.68%) Microsoft
2 27 (4.20%) Splunk
3 23 (3.58%) Cisco
4 22 (3.42%) ServiceNow
5 17 (2.64%) Remedy
6 16 (2.49%) CyberArk
7 15 (2.33%) IBM
8 13 (2.02%) Google
9 12 (1.87%) CrowdStrike
10 11 (1.71%) Fortinet
10 11 (1.71%) Oracle
11 10 (1.56%) Palo Alto
11 10 (1.56%) Salesforce
12 9 (1.40%) Thales
13 8 (1.24%) Databricks
13 8 (1.24%) Gemalto
13 8 (1.24%) Qualys
13 8 (1.24%) SAP
14 7 (1.09%) Sophos
15 5 (0.78%) VMware