Top 10 UK Cities to be a Spy

Calling all spies. The UK is looking for a large number of potential recruits.  The pay is good, the work is intriguing and candidates can pick the spy specialty where they want to apply their skills. But don’t expect to drive a James Bond Aston Martin.

It’s not a spy secret that businesses, universities and governments are under cyber attack by freelance cyber criminals and other governments.

For example, the IT firm Secureworks recently revealed that Iran launched dozens of hacking attacks against some of the UK’s top universities. Although the full extent of the hacking hasn’t been released by Secureworks, it’s believed that the hackers targeted sensitive research and intellectual property.

To understand the length and breadth of the attack, our cousins in the United States provide a cogent example. Recently, the US Justice Department charged nine Iranians with stealing 31 terabytes of data and documents from nearly 150 universities in the United States. A justice department attorney stated that the Iranians targeted material from “our greatest minds.”

To prevent these attacks, the UK is looking for a large number of cyber specialists, especially in the cybersecurity field. So to kick off the UK’s spy recruitment campaign, Crucial Academy has named the 10 best cities to start a lucrative spy career.  Under the title of the “2018 Cyber Security City Ranking,” the academy published the top 10 UK cities for cybersecurity professionals.

The top 10 UK cities are:

  1.  Reading
  2.  Leeds
  3. Cardiff
  4. Edinburgh
  5. Manchester
  6. London
  7. Glasgow
  8. Newcastle
  9. Brighton
  10. Bristol

Four factors were used to determine the ranking. These factors included:

  1. Salary
  2. Affordability
  3. Job availability
  4. Tech sector growth potential

Darktrace, located in London, is one cybersecurity firm gearing up to meet security demands in the UK. Darktrace advertises itself as offering enterprise-grade AI with $400 million in contracts.

The company has attracted 300 staff to its London office, with much of its talent recruited from the UK. London is an attractive destination for cybersecurity firms because of the availability of money and also many industry giants are located in the city.

The Government Communications Headquarters (GCHQ) is reported to be short of its 2020 employment goal. GCHQ provides intelligence to the government and the UK’s armed forces. The organization is famous for breaking the German Enigma codes in WW II.  It recently announced plans to open a new site in Manchester and is looking for talent for its Engineering Accelerator program.

Here are estimated annual salaries for the highest paying cybersecurity jobs:

1. Application security engineer, $100-$210,000

2. Network security analysis, $90-$150,000

3. IS security manager, $120-$180,000

4. Cybersecurity analysis, $90-$185,000

5. Penetration tester, $80-$130,000

6. IS security engineer, $90-$150,000

7. Cybersecurity intern, $45,000

Crucial Academy is run by Royal Marine Commando veterans. The academy offers free cybersecurity training and is currently recruiting candidates for its cybersecurity training courses. Veterans looking for a path to slide back into civilian life are especially encouraged to give a call.

After training is done, you’ll be a UK spy and able to answer the Vesper Martini question: shaken or stirred? The answer is not a secret.

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