The demand for cybersecurity analysts, auditors, engineers, architects, and administrators in Kentucky more than doubled between 2010 and 2014 according to the tech industry job market research firm Burning Glass Technologies. The difficulty of filling vacant cybersecurity positions helps to ensure high salaries, with Burning Glass Technologies reporting that the average cybersecurity salary was 9% higher than for all other IT specialists.
- Grand Canyon University - B.S. and M.S. in Cyber Security
- SNHU - B.S and M.S. in Cybersecurity
- Purdue Global - Bachelor of Science in Cybersecurity
- Arizona State University - Online Master of Arts in Global Security
- ECPI University - Cyber and Network Security - Bachelor's
Kentucky’s electric cooperatives acted proactively in 2013 to study ways to prevent cyber intrusions and disruptions—one of the greatest threats to the country’s power grids according to Electric Co-op Today. The Kentucky Public Service Commission received a grant of nearly $50,000 from the National Association of Utility Regulatory Commissioners to conduct an assessment of cyber risks at 6 of the Commonwealth’s coops.
Governor Steve Beshear announced in 2015 that the Department of Defense awarded a grant of $618,437 to the Kentucky Commission on Military Affairs. The overall purpose of the grant is to study defense-related economic opportunities, and the grant will also be used to study Kentucky’s cybersecurity industry.
Trend Micro™ described a highly significant breach that took place at Muhlenberg Community Hospital in Greenville. In 2015, the FBI alerted the hospital about malicious activity taking place within the hospital’s records, although the breach dated back to 2012 before it was sold to Owensboro Health Muhlenberg, LLC. A keylogger had enabled the cybercriminals to act undetected for three and a half years, compromising the records of almost 85,000 individuals.
Salaries for Key Cybersecurity Positions in Louisville and Lexington
According to the Robert Half Technology 2016 Salary Guide, cybersecurity specialists in Louisville and Lexington can expect to earn salaries within the ranges shown here. Cybersecurity professionals with master’s degree have the advanced expertise to earn salaries on the high end of these ranges:
Lexington:
- Data Security Analysts: $100,737 – $142,008
- Information Security Administrators: $96,533 – $136,793
- Network Security Administrators: $84,474 – $134,505
Louisville:
- Data Security Analysts: $101,287 – $142,784
- Information Security Administrators: $105,500 – $137,540
- Network Security Administrators: $103,250 – $135,240
Salaries for Information Security Analysts in Lexington and Louisville
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics provided a high level of detail on the salaries for information security analysts in Lexington-Fayette and Louisville/Jefferson County as of 2015. Information security analysts with a master’s degree can expect to earn salaries in the highest percentiles: