New benchmark report provides crucial insights for CISOs on organizational planning, design, talent acquisition, and compensation strategies.
Boston, MA – November 14, 2024 – Today, IANS Research and Artico Search released their 2024 Security Leadership and Organization Benchmark Report, an annual research study that analyzes security organization planning across revenue segments and industries. The report compiles findings from the fifth annual CISO Compensation and Budget Research Study, including responses gathered from over 800 Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) between April and September 2024.
A critical CISO responsibility is shaping the structure, operations and efficiency of their security organization and ensuring scalability and adaptability as the wider organization evolves. This entails a long list of decisions around hierarchical design, span of control, staff leveling, compensation, functional department creation, leadership appointments, reporting structures, degree of outsourcing and more.
“In today’s landscape, justifying the resources needed to build resilient security teams can be challenging,” said Nick Kakolowski, Sr. Research Director at IANS. “Our report offers CISOs a comparative lens to assess team structures, compensation and organizational scaling relative to their peers, helping leaders make informed decisions that align with their strategic priorities.”
Key findings from the 2024 Security Leadership and Organization Benchmark Report include:
- Security compensation varies significantly across industry and orgs: The sectors with the highest average compensation for functional security leaders are tech, financial services, and consumer goods and services—a trend that has persisted over the past five years.
- Cyber leader total compensation averages $280K: Total compensation for functional cybersecurity leaders in the top 25% quartile starts at $345,000. Deputy CISOs and heads of product security command the highest packages, especially within tech and financial sectors, where these roles carry unique strategic and operational demands.
- Large, global enterprises offer higher comp packages for cyber leaders: Among billion-dollar organizations, top-end compensation for security leaders surpasses $500,000 - especially product security heads and deputy CISOs who earn premium packages, which often include equity for key security roles.
- The level of CISO engagement with the board varies across orgs: In Fortune-size security organizations 73% of CISOs engage with the board quarterly compared to 49% at large organizations and 36% at midsize security teams.
- CISOs consider emerging security leadership roles: As CISOs expand their teams, business information security officers (BISOs), chiefs of staff and heads for privacy, program management and data protection top the wish list. While the BISO role is gaining traction for its business alignment, broader industry adoption remains slow, with only a subset of companies prioritizing these hires in their security succession plans.
"We saw significantly less attrition in 2024 than in previous years and expect more movement among cyber leaders in 2025.” said Steve Martano, IANS Faculty and Executive Cyber Recruiter at Artico Search. “As such, CISOs are increasingly focused on succession planning and hiring the right deputies to keep the program moving forward amidst anticipated changes, with some organizations getting a head start on hiring in Q4 2024”.
For more insights, please download the summary report.
About the Study
The CISO Compensation and Budget Research Study by IANS and Artico Search is an annual survey that offers a comprehensive analysis of compensation, hiring trends, and security budgets across industries. The 2024 Security Leadership and Organization Benchmark Report serves as a critical resource for CISOs to guide their organizational planning, talent acquisition and compensation strategies.
Survey Methodology
IANS Research and Artico Search fielded their fifth annual CISO Compensation and Budget survey in April 2024. From April until September, they received survey responses from 805 security executives at a diverse set of companies in regard to size, location and industry.
Respondents provided a range of security organizational data, including details about the size of their teams. Combined, the respondents provided data about 1,349 security leader positions in their organizations, including compensation metrics, organizational level and years of infosec experience.
About Artico Search
Founded in 2021, Artico Search specializes in recruiting senior go-to-market and security executives for growth venture, private equity, and public companies. The firm's dedicated security practice focuses on finding top CISOs and other senior-level information security professionals across a wide range of industries.
About IANS Research
For security leaders navigating complex threats and business demands, IANS Research provides expert-driven insights and practical guidance. Our network of experienced practitioners, the IANS Faculty, offers on-demand expertise and support through our research, peer community, and tailored consulting services. Learn more at IANS Research
Media Contact:
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Silver Jacket Communications
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