# Cybersecurity hiring set to surge in India, says IIIT-Delhi professor 2026-08-27T12:26:59+00:00 | Governance | Indian Opinion Desk Corroboration: 1 independent outlet India's cybersecurity job market is booming as AI-driven attacks and cloud adoption create a demand that far outstrips supply, according to an IIIT-Delhi associate professor. Industry estimates place unfilled vacancies in the lakhs. The Digital Personal Data Protection Act is pushing companies to make dedicated security hires, while the shift to cloud infrastructure has multiplied the number of systems needing protection. Hiring hubs include Bengaluru, Hyderabad, Pune, Noida, Gurugram and Chennai. Entry-level roles such as Security Operations Centre analyst pay Rs 5-7 lakh a year, rising to Rs 10-12 lakh with a hands-on certification like OSCP. Mid-career professionals combining penetration testing with cloud or AI security can earn Rs 25-45 lakh, and security leadership roles cross Rs 60 lakh. ## Indian Opinion Analysis The scale of India's cybersecurity talent gap is now a regulatory as well as a market problem. The DPDP Act, enforced since 2023, mandates data breach notifications and imposes penalties of up to Rs 250 crore for non-compliance, forcing companies to hire dedicated security staff rather than relying on general IT teams. The OSCP certification, which requires a 24-hour practical exam, remains the gold standard for technical roles, while the more theoretical CEH is the most widely recognised name in Indian job postings. The next number to watch is the rate at which premier institutes such as IIT-Kanpur and IIIT-Delhi expand their specialised cybersecurity programmes to meet industry demand. ## Coverage - hindustantimes.com Straight career advisory piece with no political slant. This brief was synthesised by AI from the source linked above. Tags: Bengaluru, DPDP Act, IIIT-Delhi, OSCP Canonical: https://indianopinion.org/cybersecurity-hiring-set-to-surge-in-india-says-iiit-delhi-professor/ License: Summary and commentary (c) Indian Opinion, reusable with attribution. Facts belong to the linked sources. Cite: https://indianopinion.org/cybersecurity-hiring-set-to-surge-in-india-says-iiit-delhi-professor/#story-in-brief Review state: restored archive article, accurate at time of publication, not offered to search indexes. How this brief was made: an AI model read the report linked above and wrote this summary and analysis, which were published automatically. Published briefs are sampled every hour by an automated quality check; the editor verifies its findings and approves corrections, and corrected briefs carry a dated correction line. We do no original reporting. Methodology: https://indianopinion.org/ai-use-policy/