Why Cybersecurity Salaries Fell After the HVV Boom – Are Professionals Spoiled?

1. The HVV High‑Pay Era

During the peak HVV period, the cybersecurity sector experienced a talent shortage and projects paid premium daily rates: junior blue‑team members earned 1,500 CNY/day, mid‑level 3,000 CNY, senior 5,000 CNY, and top red‑team experts up to 10,000 CNY. A half‑month of intensive work could bring over 100,000 CNY.

2. Current Market: Salary Cliff

Today, the same roles command far lower pay—heavy‑guard positions offer 800–1,000 CNY/day, and mature penetration‑testing jobs in Beijing pay only 12–14 K CNY per month, representing a near‑50 % drop from the HVV peak.

3. Why HVV Pay Was Not Easy Money

HVV contracts required 12‑hour high‑intensity shifts, 24‑hour on‑call readiness, and constant vigilance against real attacks; the physical and mental strain meant the high daily rates compensated for short‑term, demanding work rather than a sustainable salary level.

12‑hour high‑intensity duty

Emergency incident response through the night

24‑hour attack‑defense operations

Zero tolerance for mistakes under real‑world pressure

4. Industry Normalization After the Bubble

The market has moved from a “wild growth” phase to a more stable, demand‑driven model, resulting in more reasonable salary structures, clearer career paths, greater value on long‑term technical accumulation, and increased focus on security‑operations roles.

Salary structures become predictable

Career development paths are clearer

Technical depth gains importance over short‑term project income

Security‑operations positions receive more attention

5. Long‑Term Advice: Build Core Technical Skills

To thrive in the post‑HVV era, professionals should strengthen core blue‑team capabilities: attack‑defense proficiency, full‑cycle incident response, comprehensive asset mapping, log‑analysis for threat detection, and continuous security‑operations competence.

Technical mastery, rather than short‑term high pay, remains the enduring “iron rice bowl” for cybersecurity workers.