Cybersecurity major: what the profession is, where to study and how much specialists earn

Cybersecurity is not just an "IT profession" — it is one of the most crisis-resistant areas of the tech market. While businesses and the state move money, documents and infrastructure into the digital world, the specialists who can protect all of it remain in short supply even when other IT disciplines go through waves of layoffs. In this article we break down what the "Cybersecurity & Information Protection" major actually covers, what a specialist does, where to study in Ukraine, how much they get paid and who this field really suits.

What the cybersecurity major is and what a specialist does

Cybersecurity is the practice of protecting computer systems, networks, data and people from digital threats: account takeover, data leaks, malicious software and attacks on critical infrastructure. A cybersecurity specialist is a person who either builds defences, finds weaknesses in them before attackers do, or responds when an attack has already happened.

It is important to understand that this is not a single profession but a whole spectrum of roles. The defensive side is commonly called the Blue Team — they monitor networks, respond to incidents and build defences. The offensive side is the Red Team: penetration testers and ethical hackers who legally "attack" systems to find vulnerabilities. In between are threat analysts, security engineers, cryptographers and compliance specialists. They share one thing in common: an understanding of how systems work and how they can be broken or defended.

For Ukraine this profession carries special meaning. The country has lived under hybrid warfare for years, and cyberattacks on state institutions, energy, banks and media have become part of reality. That is why cybersecurity specialists are needed in the public sector, in defence technology and in commercial companies alike — from banks to product IT teams.

Directions and roles: what graduates do

Cybersecurity is not "a job with a single title" but a tree of career paths. The most common roles people start from and grow into:

• SOC Analyst (Security Operations Center Analyst) — monitors security events, triages alerts and escalates suspicious cases. This is the most common "entry-level" role: L1 positions often hire people without much experience, and these are the vacancies most frequently seen on the Ukrainian market.
• Penetration Tester — tests systems for weaknesses, finds vulnerabilities and writes reports on how to fix them.
• Security Engineer — designs and implements security controls: firewalls, intrusion detection systems, EDR.
• Threat Intelligence Analyst — tracks actors, campaigns and indicators of compromise to prevent attacks.
• Cryptographer / cryptographic protection specialist — works with encryption, digital signatures and key management.
• CISO (Chief Information Security Officer) — the management peak: security strategy, risk, compliance and budget.
• Cloud Security Engineer — protects infrastructure on AWS, Azure and Google Cloud, configures access policies and encryption in the cloud.
• Incident Response / Digital Forensics specialist — investigates attacks, collects digital evidence and restores systems after compromise.
• Compliance & risk management (GRC) specialist — ensures compliance with standards (ISO/IEC 27001, PCI DSS), assesses risks and builds security policies.

Each of these roles demands a different balance of technical and soft skills, but the foundation is shared: networks, operating systems, cryptography and an attacker's mindset. That is why entering the profession usually starts with universal junior positions — a SOC analyst or junior penetration tester — and only then does a specialist choose the narrow direction that suits them best.

Major 125 (F5) "Cybersecurity & Information Protection" at Ukrainian universities

In Ukraine, specialist higher education is provided by major 125 "Cybersecurity & Information Protection" — in the new 2024 classification it is marked with the F5 code within the "Information Technology" field. Bachelor's programmes last 4 years, and a master's degree adds another 2.

Strong institutions offering this major include:

• Igor Sikorsky Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (KPI) — the Institute of Physics and Technology runs the information security department; admission is based on National Multi-Subject Test (NMT) results and a motivation letter.
• Lviv Polytechnic National University — training is provided by the "Information Protection" and "Information Technology Security" departments. Specialisations: "Technical Information Protection Systems", "Information Security Management", "Cybersecurity Systems Administration", "Security of Information and Communication Systems".
• Vinnytsia National Technical University — the Faculty of Management and Information Security operates a cybersecurity situation centre and a training and research cyber range based on IBM and Intel technologies.

It is also worth mentioning studying with industry practitioners. For example, at KSE (Kyiv School of Economics) cybersecurity courses are taught by a certified ethical hacker and co-founder of the data-leak detection platform A42, Serhii Saraichykov — such programmes combine an academic base with the real-world experience of defenders.

Important: a diploma is neither the only nor the mandatory way into the profession. Many employers look first at practical skills, portfolio and certifications. We covered the self-study path into the field in our guide "Cybersecurity: learning from scratch".

What you study: key subjects

Training programmes, regardless of the university, are built around several blocks that form the core of the profession:

• Computer network security — how TCP/IP, routing and firewalls work, and how to protect the network perimeter.
• Operating system security — Linux and Windows administration, access rights, security logs and hardening.
• Software security — how to write secure code, what application vulnerabilities exist and how to find them.
• Cryptographic transformations and information protection — symmetric and asymmetric algorithms, hash functions, digital signatures, SSL/TLS and key management.
• Security audit methodologies — how to assess a system's security level and run compliance checks.
• Programming — most often Python, for automating security tasks and building tools.
• Technical information protection — protection against leakage through technical channels and engineering security controls.

The academic base is necessarily complemented by practice: lab stands, cyber ranges and platforms such as TryHackMe or Hack The Box, where skills are honed in simulated environments. It is this combination of theory and hands-on work that makes a graduate attractive to an employer, because what employers need is not just theory but the ability to apply it to a real incident.

How much a cybersecurity specialist earns in Ukraine

Salaries in cybersecurity are consistently among the highest in IT. According to DOU, median salaries look roughly like this:

• Junior — from ~$700 to $1200 per month;
• Middle — around $1900;
• Senior — around $3000.

These are averaged figures: they are affected by the direction (offensive security often pays more than monitoring), the type of company (product vs outsourcing) and English proficiency. Certain narrow roles — penetration testers, incident response specialists, cloud security engineers — can earn noticeably above the median. For a hryvnia reference point: the median Middle-level salary (~$1900) is roughly 78–80 thousand hryvnias a month at the exchange rate current at the time of publication, although the rate and the tax system (private entrepreneur vs employee) significantly affect the final take-home amount.

It is also telling that cybersecurity salaries keep growing even when the rest of the market stagnates. According to CompTIA, demand for such specialists is growing 3.5 times faster than the IT market average, and global security spending, according to Gartner, reached $213 billion in 2025. For a beginner this means a simple thing: even an entry-level SOC role gives a fast start with a clear growth trajectory.

Who this major suits and how to enrol

Cybersecurity is not an "easy" field, and honesty matters more here than fashion. The profession suits those who enjoy figuring out "how it works from the inside": why a system is vulnerable, how attackers strike and what can be done to stay ahead of them. You will need analytical thinking, patience for monotonous log work and a readiness to learn constantly — attack methods change faster than any curriculum.

Bachelor's admission requires NMT (National Multi-Subject Test) results. In the 2026 example of Lviv Polytechnic, the competitive score consisted of: Ukrainian language (weight 0.30), mathematics (weight 0.50, minimum score 110) and history of Ukraine (weight 0.20), plus one elective subject — physics, a foreign language, biology, geography or chemistry. In other words, the main emphasis is on mathematics, which is logical for a technical major. Contract tuition at the same university is about 85,000 UAH a year; at other institutions the figures and the competitive-score formula differ, so they should be checked on official websites.

The alternative route is online courses and certifications (CompTIA Security+, CEH, OSCP), which we covered in detail in a separate article. For many people this is a faster way into the profession than four years of a bachelor's degree.

Outlook: why cybersecurity is one of the most stable choices

The main argument in favour of this major is its resilience even in crisis periods. When the IT market shakes from layoffs, security specialists feel the most confident. According to a DOU survey (March–April 2026), the employment rate among Security, DevOps, AI/ML and Data Science specialists exceeded 90% — while some creative and product roles had noticeably worse figures. Cybersecurity and AI specialists are also less afraid of losing their jobs than others.

The global trend adds further confidence: IDC forecasts that by 2026 more than 90% of companies worldwide will feel a shortage of IT staff, with related losses estimated at $5.5 trillion. In security this shortage is felt especially acutely, because a mistake here costs not only money but also reputation and customer data.

In Ukraine, demand is reinforced by the reality of war: cyber defence is needed for state registries, the Defence Forces, banks and the energy sector. Current vacancies — from SOC analysts in commercial companies to cybersecurity officers in military units — can be tracked in the jobs section of our platform, and you can follow what is happening in the industry in event reviews such as Nonamecon or NATO Cyber Coalition.

Conclusion

The "cybersecurity" major is at once an in-demand profession, a fast career path and a rare "island of stability" on today's market. It demands a technical foundation, mathematics and constant learning, but in return it offers salaries that grow even during a crisis and the chance to work defending real systems — from banks to the country's critical infrastructure. There are two ways to start: through higher education in major 125/F5, or through self-study and certifications. Whichever route you choose, the first step to security is your own hygiene: check whether your email or passwords have appeared in known breaches using our free Breach Check tool.