Middle East Companies hunting for IT Security Professionals with Top Salaries

Recruitment agencies are sourcing candidates from as far as Brazil and Korea for Gulf Co-operation Council (GCC) security firms catering to national government agencies and global financial institutions.

Security staffs are particularly valued at present because they are relatively scarce in comparison with other IT skills sets, according to a survey by IT security firm Oger Systems Ltd.

And certification specialist CertMag just reported that Security Managers (ISACA) commanded the second highest pay out of all IT workers worldwide in 2007, at an average of US$9.5k p/m.

Oger Systems says the most qualified security applicants continue to arrive in the region from countries that are currently paying them the least.

Figures from the survey conducted by its HR Portal (hr.scanit.net) show the lowest paying countries for security workers are Malaysia at $2k per month and Singapore, Italy, India, Korea, Brazil and China at between $3k to $3.5k p/m.

The highest average rates are in Germany and the US, at between $4.5 and $5k p/m.