The cyber salary market in 2026: trend analysis
In IT and tech, cybersecurity roles are among the most sought-after by companies, and among those where salaries have risen the most. The talent shortage, although slightly eased by the arrival of new graduates, remains structural.
Three key factors are shaping pay this year:
- The specialisation premium: Generalists are seeing their salaries stagnate slightly, while experts in Cloud Security, defensive AI and compliance (GRC) are seeing their market value soar.
- The geographical impact: Although the gap between Paris and the rest of France is narrowing thanks to fully remote work, a 10-15% gap persists for roles based in Île-de-France (the Paris region).
- Freelancing: More and more senior experts are leaving permanent contracts (CDI) for freelance day rates (TJM), forcing companies to raise fixed salaries to retain talent in-house.
Our study sets out average salaries by role and experience level. We cover individual contributor roles, from junior to senior / expert level. We also cover cyber leadership roles, with an overview of average salaries for Head of Information Systems Security (RSSI) and CISO positions.
👉 For an overview of the sector, see our guide to IT salaries.
Cybersecurity salary summary tables
Individual contributors in cyber (experts and operational roles)
👉 Are you a company that is hiring? Meet our candidates for cybersecurity roles on our page: Cybersecurity recruitment agency.
Leadership roles in cyber (management and strategy)
Note: The salaries quoted apply to Paris and the wider Île-de-France region. Elsewhere in France, expect salaries to be 10% to 15% lower on average.
Salary breakdown by cybersecurity role
What is the salary of a SOC Analyst (Security Operations Centre) in France?
The SOC analyst monitors infrastructure in real time to detect incidents. The day-to-day work has changed: automation (SOAR) now handles level 1 alerts, pushing analysts to focus on complex investigation and incident response (CSIRT).
In terms of pay, a junior analyst usually starts on €40k-48k gross. With a few years of experience and a better command of the tools, pay rises quickly to €50k-65k. The most experienced analysts, moving into Lead Analyst or incident response roles, plateau at €65k-80k.
What is the salary of a Pentester (Ethical Hacker) in France?
The Pentester simulates attacks to identify vulnerabilities before hackers do. Demand is very strong for penetration testing on Cloud environments, APIs and AI systems, skills that command a high price. Entry-level pay is often €42k-50k, depending on which key certifications the candidate holds. Once experienced and able to run audits fully independently, a pentester can expect €52k-70k. Senior and expert pentesters frequently exceed €70k gross, and can reach €95k and above.
What is the salary of a GRC Consultant (Governance, Risk and Compliance) in France?
Less technical but just as critical, the GRC consultant aligns the company’s strategy with regulations (ISO 27001, GDPR, NIS2). It is an essential role for large groups (industry, defence, banking). On personal data specifically, it is the DPO who holds the regulatory mandate, with pay close to that of a GRC consultant. Compliance, however, is only one of the services offered by cyber consulting: the Cybersecurity Consultant also covers technical audit, architecture and incident response.
New graduates from engineering schools or specialised master’s programmes start out on €45k-55k. Once they have mastered risk analysis (notably the EBIOS RM method), experienced consultants earn between €58k and €75k gross a year. Senior consultants, in management or high-level audit roles, reach €75,000 to €100,000.
What is the salary of a DevSecOps Engineer in France?
At the crossroads of development and security, DevSecOps integrates security into continuous integration pipelines (CI/CD). It is a hybrid profile that startups and scale-ups actively headhunt to streamline secure deployments. Some engineers with a DevOps background, but strong security skills and interest, can also fill this role.
Since the dual skill set (Dev + Sec) is rare, the entry salary is high, between €48,000 and €58,000 gross. An experienced engineer able to secure complex environments can expect €60k-80k. Senior experts who have mastered Kubernetes, Docker and Cloud Security (AWS/Azure) pass the €80k mark and earn up to €110k gross a year.
What is the salary of a Cybersecurity Engineer in France?
The Cybersecurity Engineer is a Swiss Army knife profile. The title can cover several roles or jobs depending on the company and the context. Early in their career, an engineer able to handle both “Build” and “Run” earns €45k-52k. This rises to €55,000 to €70,000 gross for an experienced engineer managing technical projects. Finally, a senior technical lead, often involved in security architecture, sits in a range of €70k-85k gross per year.
What is the salary of an RSSI (Head of Information Systems Security) in France?
Often reporting to the CIO (DSI) in mid-sized organisations, the RSSI is operationally responsible for the security policy. They manage the budget, lead the technical teams and ensure day-to-day compliance. It is a management role that requires technical skills, but also strong communication skills.
For a first RSSI role or in an SME, salary usually starts at €55k-70k gross. With experience, team management and substantial budgets, an experienced RSSI’s pay rises to €70k-90k. In a mid-cap company (ETI) or a large, high-risk subsidiary, a senior profile can expect €90k-130k gross.
Hiring for this role? Find out more about our CISO recruitment agency.
What is the salary of a Cryptography Engineer in France?
A niche profile and one of the rarest in the market, the Cryptography Engineer designs and implements the encryption mechanisms themselves. A junior engineer fresh from a specialised master’s programme starts at around €45k-52k. With five years of experience, or a PhD in an applied research field, pay rises to €60k-72k, and exceeds €80k in the most specialised roles in defence or deeptech.
What is the salary of a CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) in France?
The “boss” of cybersecurity in the strategic sense. Unlike the classic RSSI, the CISO often has an international remit and sometimes sits on the executive committee (ComEx). They translate cyber risks into business risks for senior management and bear legal responsibility.
This role is not open to juniors (allow at least 10 years of experience). For a CISO in a mid-sized group, pay usually ranges from €100k to €140k gross. For the most strategic profiles (CAC40 / SBF120), packages soar from €140k to more than €250k, often including significant bonuses and free share awards.
Freelance cybersecurity pay in France: what day rate (TJM) to aim for in 2026?
While the permanent contract (CDI) remains the norm for those seeking stability, freelancing is attracting more and more experts looking for freedom and higher earnings. In 2026, companies no longer hesitate to call on freelancers and independent contractors to meet urgent one-off needs or to bring in niche expertise that cannot be found in-house.
Here, we are no longer talking about gross annual salary but about the average daily rate (TJM). These are the rates charged in the French market this year by cybersecurity freelancers.
For an expert part-time RSSI or CISO, the day rate can even reach €2,000.
