U.S. cybersecurity job postings fall 26% as demand for AI security specialists climbs

U.S. cybersecurity job postings fell to a four-year low in the first nine months of 2026, even as demand rose sharply for roles focused on artificial intelligence and data, according to figures from CyberSN’s Cybersecurity Jobs Report.

The report counted 235,786 postings between January and September, down 26.4% from 320,210 in the same period of 2025. AI Security Engineer postings increased 268.3% year over year, while Cyber Data Scientist listings rose 203.5%.

The figures are based on listings aggregated by JobSpikr, with duplicates removed. CyberSN maps job descriptions to a taxonomy of 45 cybersecurity roles across 10 categories, aiming to count the work requested rather than rely on employers’ job titles.

AI appears across the broader market, too: just under 15% of postings referenced AI in the January-to-September period, close to the 15.1% share a year earlier. The proportion reached 20% in September. Research roles had the highest share of AI references, at 32.7%, followed by Offense at 23.3%.

The gains came against a broad decline in listings. Cyber Insider Threat Analyst postings fell 55.6% to 1,088, while Cyber Risk Analyst listings dropped 51.5% to 4,031. Penetration Tester postings were down 45.9% to 3,063.

The report measures listings, not hiring outcomes, and does not establish why demand shifted. It also cautions against reading too much into individual job titles. For example, CISO postings were down 38.9% from 2025, but their total of 2,832 was nearly level with 2024’s 2,808; listings rose 19.5% from the second to the third quarter of 2026.

The data therefore point to a strong relative market for specialized AI security skills within a contracting cybersecurity job-posting market—not proof that overall cybersecurity employment is growing. CyberSN’s figures track advertised openings, rather than positions filled or the number of people employed.