Cyber breaches at SolarWinds and Colonial Pipeline have underscored the importance of putting the right chief information security officers (CISOs) in place. That, in turn, has led to intense competition to recruit top cybersecurity leadership who have seen their market values and salaries soar, according to just-released compensation data from IANS Research and Artico Search.

Filtering the compensation data by gender reveals female CISOs out earning their male peers by five percent for base compensation and seven percent for total compensation. What explains that difference? Males still dominate the security function, as evident by 88 percent males in the study sample size: 338 males vs. 45 female CISOs. It appears that female leaders who manage to break through to higher positions command a premium in compensation, as nearly every company requires diversity in their slate of candidates. Perhaps this trend will encourage more women to enter and continue working in the field

Read more: Demand for Cybersecurity Talent Sets Salaries Soaring (https://huntscanlon.com)