Network Security Job Trends

Network Security
UK

The table below provides summary statistics and salary benchmarking for jobs requiring Network Security skills. It covers permanent job vacancies from the 6 months leading up to 12 June 2026, with comparisons to the same periods in the previous two years.

6 months to
12 Jun 2026
Same period 2025 Same period 2024
Rank 260 243 236
Rank change year-on-year -17 -7 -104
Permanent jobs citing Network Security 679 593 1,278
As % of all permanent jobs in the UK 0.73% 1.34% 1.20%
As % of the Communications & Networking category 9.98% 8.87% 9.65%
Number of salaries quoted 499 488 1,016
10th Percentile £35,727 £34,075 £32,500
25th Percentile £47,095 £49,250 £45,000
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £65,000 £63,750 £60,000
Median % change year-on-year +1.96% +6.25% +4.35%
75th Percentile £82,500 £82,500 £77,500
90th Percentile £97,750 £95,000 £95,000
UK excluding London median annual salary £55,000 £57,250 £55,000
% change year-on-year -3.93% +4.09% +4.76%

All Communications and Computer Networking Skills
UK

Network Security falls under the Communications and Computer Networking category. For comparison with the information above, the following table provides summary statistics for all permanent job vacancies requiring communications or computer networking skills.

Permanent vacancies with a requirement for communications or computer networking skills 6,807 6,683 13,240
As % of all permanent jobs advertised in the UK 7.35% 15.10% 12.39%
Number of salaries quoted 4,367 3,737 9,430
10th Percentile £27,694 £25,750 £26,250
25th Percentile £31,250 £31,250 £32,500
Median annual salary (50th Percentile) £47,500 £47,500 £47,500
Median % change year-on-year - - -6.39%
75th Percentile £70,000 £67,500 £63,750
90th Percentile £85,000 £85,000 £77,500
UK excluding London median annual salary £42,500 £40,000 £44,500
% change year-on-year +6.25% -10.11% -1.11%

Network Security
Job Vacancy Trend

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

Network Security job vacancy trend in the UK

Network Security
Salary Trend

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Network Security.

Salary distribution trend for jobs in the UK citing Network Security

Network Security
Salary Histogram

Salary distribution for jobs citing Network Security over the 6 months to 12 June 2026.

Salary histogram for Network Security in the UK

Network Security
Top 17 Job Locations

The table below looks at the demand and provides a guide to the median salaries quoted in IT jobs citing Network Security within the UK over the 6 months to 12 June 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
Permanent
IT Job Ads
Median Salary
Past 6 Months
Median Salary
% Change
on Same Period
Last Year
Live
Jobs
England +3 628 £65,000 +4.84% 201
UK excluding London -61 357 £55,000 -3.93% 187
London +53 297 £75,000 -4.76% 62
Work from Home +58 207 £60,000 - 103
North of England -3 103 £50,000 -13.04% 54
South East -50 75 £50,000 -5.66% 55
North West +63 69 £45,000 -21.74% 40
South West -58 64 £57,500 -11.54% 22
Midlands -10 59 £62,500 +28.21% 22
West Midlands -15 42 £62,500 +24.38% 11
East of England -15 24 £50,580 +6.48% 13
Yorkshire -57 23 £62,500 +13.64% 12
East Midlands -31 16 £45,000 +16.13% 11
Wales -57 15 £45,000 -40.00% 7
Scotland +3 12 £60,000 -30.14% 17
North East -41 11 £95,000 +65.22% 3
Northern Ireland -33 7 £50,000 -34.29% 3

Network 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 27 (3.98%) Microsoft Exchange
2 15 (2.21%) SharePoint
3 4 (0.59%) Confluence
4 2 (0.29%) Apache
5 1 (0.15%) Skype for Business
Applications
1 32 (4.71%) MS Visio
2 15 (2.21%) Microsoft Office
3 3 (0.44%) Microsoft Excel
4 2 (0.29%) Microsoft PowerPoint
Business Applications
1 4 (0.59%) Line 50
2 2 (0.29%) Distributed Ledger
2 2 (0.29%) Payment Gateway
3 1 (0.15%) Oracle Payables
Cloud Services
1 260 (38.29%) Azure
2 161 (23.71%) AWS
3 103 (15.17%) Microsoft 365
4 78 (11.49%) GCP
5 55 (8.10%) Entra ID
6 24 (3.53%) Mimecast
7 21 (3.09%) GitHub
8 18 (2.65%) Azure Sentinel
9 17 (2.50%) GitHub Actions
10 15 (2.21%) Datadog
10 15 (2.21%) Serverless
11 12 (1.77%) Azure ExpressRoute
11 12 (1.77%) OCI
12 11 (1.62%) Azure DevOps
12 11 (1.62%) Azure Monitor
12 11 (1.62%) SaaS
13 10 (1.47%) Dynamics 365
14 9 (1.33%) OpenShift
15 7 (1.03%) AWS CloudFormation
16 6 (0.88%) Virtual Private Cloud
Communications & Networking
1 372 (54.79%) Firewall
2 172 (25.33%) WAN
3 171 (25.18%) VPN
4 135 (19.88%) LAN
5 110 (16.20%) SD-WAN
6 107 (15.76%) VLAN
7 99 (14.58%) Wireless
8 90 (13.25%) BGP
9 83 (12.22%) DNS
10 79 (11.63%) OSPF
11 63 (9.28%) Wi-Fi
12 62 (9.13%) TCP/IP
13 52 (7.66%) DHCP
14 43 (6.33%) Cisco Nexus
15 42 (6.19%) WLAN
16 41 (6.04%) Cisco Wireless
17 40 (5.89%) Cisco ISE
18 33 (4.86%) MPLS
19 32 (4.71%) Cisco ASA
19 32 (4.71%) SSL
Database & Business Intelligence
1 9 (1.33%) SQL Server
2 8 (1.18%) GIS
2 8 (1.18%) MySQL
3 7 (1.03%) PostgreSQL
4 4 (0.59%) Amazon RDS
4 4 (0.59%) Big Data
4 4 (0.59%) FileMaker
5 3 (0.44%) Elasticsearch
6 2 (0.29%) Metadata
6 2 (0.29%) NoSQL
6 2 (0.29%) Power BI
6 2 (0.29%) Redis
7 1 (0.15%) RDBMS
7 1 (0.15%) Relational Database
Development Applications
1 18 (2.65%) JIRA
2 13 (1.91%) TeamCity
3 11 (1.62%) GitLab
3 11 (1.62%) Jenkins
4 5 (0.74%) Git
5 4 (0.59%) Bitbucket
6 3 (0.44%) SonarQube
7 2 (0.29%) Subversion
General
1 173 (25.48%) Social Skills
2 97 (14.29%) Finance
3 47 (6.92%) Analytical Skills
4 46 (6.77%) Inclusion and Diversity
5 43 (6.33%) Public Sector
6 35 (5.15%) Banking
7 29 (4.27%) Retail
8 26 (3.83%) Law
9 24 (3.53%) Telecoms
10 20 (2.95%) Legal
10 20 (2.95%) Presentation Skills
11 15 (2.21%) Aerospace
11 15 (2.21%) Documentation Skills
11 15 (2.21%) Organisational Skills
12 11 (1.62%) Manufacturing
13 9 (1.33%) Advertising
13 9 (1.33%) Automotive
14 8 (1.18%) Influencing Skills
15 7 (1.03%) Aviation
15 7 (1.03%) Cyber-Physical System
Job Titles
1 203 (29.90%) Network Engineer
2 145 (21.35%) Senior
3 100 (14.73%) Architect
4 72 (10.60%) Security Engineer
5 67 (9.87%) Senior Network Engineer
6 61 (8.98%) Analyst
7 52 (7.66%) Security Analyst
8 43 (6.33%) Consultant
9 40 (5.89%) Infrastructure Engineer
10 39 (5.74%) Network Architect
11 37 (5.45%) Lead
11 37 (5.45%) Security Architect
12 35 (5.15%) IT Support
13 34 (5.01%) Cloud Engineer
14 30 (4.42%) IT Engineer
15 28 (4.12%) Cisco Engineer
15 28 (4.12%) Security Manager
16 26 (3.83%) Network Analyst
16 26 (3.83%) Network Security Analyst
17 25 (3.68%) Security Specialist
Libraries, Frameworks & Software Standards
1 19 (2.80%) OAuth
2 18 (2.65%) SAML
3 16 (2.36%) REST
4 13 (1.91%) OpenID
5 10 (1.47%) LDAP
6 9 (1.33%) eBPF
7 7 (1.03%) 802.1X
8 6 (0.88%) HTML
8 6 (0.88%) Kafka
9 4 (0.59%) CSS
9 4 (0.59%) Microsoft Graph
10 3 (0.44%) gRPC
10 3 (0.44%) Keycloak
10 3 (0.44%) Protocol Buffers
11 2 (0.29%) OAuth2
11 2 (0.29%) RabbitMQ
11 2 (0.29%) RESTful
12 1 (0.15%) JSON
12 1 (0.15%) JWT
12 1 (0.15%) XML
Miscellaneous
1 111 (16.35%) Data Centre
2 85 (12.52%) Security Posture
3 44 (6.48%) PKI
4 36 (5.30%) Cloud Native
5 28 (4.12%) Management Information System
6 26 (3.83%) Driving Licence
7 23 (3.39%) Cyber Defence
8 21 (3.09%) Hybrid Cloud
9 20 (2.95%) Self-Motivation
10 16 (2.36%) Security Operations Centre
11 13 (1.91%) Blog
11 13 (1.91%) Cyber Kill Chain
11 13 (1.91%) Cyber Threat
12 12 (1.77%) Operational Technology
12 12 (1.77%) Public Cloud
13 10 (1.47%) Cloud Security Posture
14 9 (1.33%) Cyber Security Posture
14 9 (1.33%) Distributed Denial-of-Service
14 9 (1.33%) Enterprise Software
15 8 (1.18%) Clustering
Operating Systems
1 104 (15.32%) Windows
2 88 (12.96%) Linux
3 43 (6.33%) Windows Server
4 8 (1.18%) Unix
5 6 (0.88%) Windows 10
6 5 (0.74%) Windows Server 2016
7 4 (0.59%) CentOS
7 4 (0.59%) Mac OS
8 3 (0.44%) Ubuntu
8 3 (0.44%) Windows Server 2019
9 2 (0.29%) Android
9 2 (0.29%) Debian
9 2 (0.29%) Red Hat Enterprise Linux
9 2 (0.29%) Windows Server 2012
10 1 (0.15%) Data ONTAP
10 1 (0.15%) VMS
Processes & Methodologies
1 184 (27.10%) Cybersecurity
2 127 (18.70%) Incident Response
3 120 (17.67%) Cloud Security
4 110 (16.20%) Security Architecture
5 104 (15.32%) Problem-Solving
6 95 (13.99%) SIEM
7 84 (12.37%) Zero Trust
8 80 (11.78%) Disaster Recovery
9 79 (11.63%) Roadmaps
10 78 (11.49%) Vulnerability Management
11 74 (10.90%) Security Operations
12 72 (10.60%) Continuous Improvement
13 71 (10.46%) Infrastructure Engineering
13 71 (10.46%) Stakeholder Engagement
14 67 (9.87%) High Availability
15 65 (9.57%) Infrastructure as Code
16 64 (9.43%) Information Security
17 62 (9.13%) Mentoring
17 62 (9.13%) Network Monitoring
18 60 (8.84%) Business Continuity
Programming Languages
1 107 (15.76%) Python
2 68 (10.01%) PowerShell
3 25 (3.68%) Bash
4 15 (2.21%) Rust
5 14 (2.06%) Go
6 13 (1.91%) SQL
7 7 (1.03%) Bicep
7 7 (1.03%) C
8 6 (0.88%) Kusto Query Language
8 6 (0.88%) PHP
9 5 (0.74%) C++
10 4 (0.59%) Java
10 4 (0.59%) Ruby
11 3 (0.44%) C#
11 3 (0.44%) Objective-C
11 3 (0.44%) Perl
11 3 (0.44%) Shell Script
12 2 (0.29%) JavaScript
12 2 (0.29%) TypeScript
13 1 (0.15%) PL/SQL
Qualifications
1 177 (26.07%) Cisco Certification
2 142 (20.91%) CCNP
3 109 (16.05%) Security Cleared
4 104 (15.32%) Degree
5 82 (12.08%) CISSP
6 79 (11.63%) SC Cleared
7 63 (9.28%) CCIE
7 63 (9.28%) CCNA
8 47 (6.92%) CISM
9 45 (6.63%) DV Cleared
10 41 (6.04%) Computer Science Degree
11 39 (5.74%) Azure Certification
12 33 (4.86%) AWS Certification
13 25 (3.68%) DBS Check
14 17 (2.50%) GIAC
15 15 (2.21%) (ISC)2 CCSP
15 15 (2.21%) CCSP
16 14 (2.06%) Microsoft Certification
17 13 (1.91%) JNCIP
18 12 (1.77%) Network+ Certification
Quality Assurance & Compliance
1 149 (21.94%) ISO/IEC 27001
2 118 (17.38%) NIST
3 50 (7.36%) PCI DSS
4 49 (7.22%) GDPR
5 43 (6.33%) Cyber Essentials
6 31 (4.57%) GRC
7 21 (3.09%) SOC 2
8 19 (2.80%) NCSC
9 16 (2.36%) HMG Security Policy Framework
10 14 (2.06%) JSP 440
10 14 (2.06%) PMO
10 14 (2.06%) SLA
11 11 (1.62%) Cyber Essentials PLUS
12 8 (1.18%) Sarbanes-Oxley
13 7 (1.03%) Government Security Classifications
13 7 (1.03%) HIPAA
13 7 (1.03%) ISO/IEC 42001
14 6 (0.88%) Actionable Recommendations
14 6 (0.88%) ISO 9001
14 6 (0.88%) QA
System Software
1 98 (14.43%) Active Directory
2 52 (7.66%) VMware Infrastructure
3 30 (4.42%) Docker
4 26 (3.83%) Hyper-V
5 14 (2.06%) ProxySG
6 8 (1.18%) vSphere
7 6 (0.88%) VMware NSX
8 5 (0.74%) Virtual Machines
8 5 (0.74%) VMware ESXi
9 4 (0.59%) iptables
10 3 (0.44%) EMC RecoverPoint
10 3 (0.44%) Firmware
11 2 (0.29%) Citrix Hypervisor
11 2 (0.29%) Samba
11 2 (0.29%) VMware Workstation
12 1 (0.15%) IAG
12 1 (0.15%) NLBS
12 1 (0.15%) Virtual Desktop
12 1 (0.15%) XenApp
12 1 (0.15%) XenDesktop
Systems Management
1 72 (10.60%) Terraform
2 51 (7.51%) FortiGate
3 47 (6.92%) Ansible
4 45 (6.63%) Kubernetes
5 14 (2.06%) Microsoft Intune
6 13 (1.91%) Cilium
6 13 (1.91%) Single Sign-On
7 10 (1.47%) Cisco Prime
8 9 (1.33%) Puppet
9 8 (1.18%) Prometheus
10 7 (1.03%) CASB
10 7 (1.03%) Grafana
11 6 (0.88%) Progress Chef
12 5 (0.74%) WSUS
13 4 (0.59%) HP Fortify
13 4 (0.59%) VxRail
14 3 (0.44%) Active Directory Federation Services
14 3 (0.44%) Kibana
14 3 (0.44%) Podman
14 3 (0.44%) SCCM
Vendors
1 231 (34.02%) Cisco
2 183 (26.95%) Microsoft
3 116 (17.08%) Fortinet
4 106 (15.61%) Palo Alto
5 66 (9.72%) VMware
6 51 (7.51%) CheckPoint
7 45 (6.63%) SolarWinds
8 42 (6.19%) F5
8 42 (6.19%) Meraki
9 37 (5.45%) Juniper
10 34 (5.01%) Splunk
11 31 (4.57%) Aruba
12 30 (4.42%) Infoblox
13 27 (3.98%) Zscaler
14 25 (3.68%) Arista
14 25 (3.68%) Google
15 20 (2.95%) Sophos
16 17 (2.50%) SonicWALL
17 16 (2.36%) Blue Coat
17 16 (2.36%) ServiceNow