Hardware Security Researcher

Median salary, education path, job outlook, and related careers — based on U.S. labor data.

What a Hardware Security Researcher does

Probes physical chips, firmware, and embedded systems for side-channel attacks, fault injection vulnerabilities, and hardware trojans that software-only testers never reach.

Education & path

The typical entry point is a master's degree. About 6 years (bachelor's + ~2-year master's).

Estimated cost of that path: ~$70,000. Estimated payback: ~3 years. Estimates only — actual cost varies widely by school and financial aid; payback assumes ~20% of income applied.

Related careers

• SCADA/ICS Security Specialist — $120,000/yr
• Red Team Operator — $138,000/yr
• Malware Reverse Engineer — $128,000/yr
• Firmware Reverse Engineer — $135,000/yr
• Digital Forensics Examiner — $88,000/yr