How Many Security Engineers Should You Hire?

TL;DR
There’s no universal answer to “how many security engineers should you hire.”
Use the calculation framework in this guide to set a baseline from your developer headcount, then adjust for compliance, risk level, infrastructure complexity, and incident coverage needs.
Map those numbers into the right mix of roles, review them regularly, and hire earlier if key triggers occur.

"If you think technology can solve your security problems, then you don’t understand the problems and you don’t understand the technology." - Bruce Schneier

A Quick Story Before the Numbers

I have been working in security for the last 5 years, understanding companies of all sizes from 5-person startups to Fortune 500 giants & have synced with multiple people to figure out how to balance security risk with team size.
And I’ve seen a pattern: many organizations don’t think seriously about hiring security engineers until after something goes wrong….

It was 2:13 AM when Mark, the CTO of a growing SaaS startup, got a call from the on-call developer.
“Uh… I think we’ve been breached.”

The logs showed suspicious API calls from an IP in another country, accessing sensitive customer data. Mark’s stomach sank.
They had developers, they had infrastructure folks, but they didn’t have a dedicated security engineer.

By sunrise, the team had patched the vulnerability but not before three major customers emailed asking for an “urgent security meeting.” Deals stalled. Trust wavered.

A week later, in the board meeting, the CEO asked:
“How did this happen? We thought AWS was secure.”

Mark learned the hard way: Security isn’t automatic, and cloud doesn’t secure itself.
The next question from the board was one you might be asking right now:
**“So… how many security engineers do we need?”

This guide will break down how to calculate your ideal security team size, using a blend of real-world benchmarks, cost–risk analysis, and practical hiring frameworks that work for founders, CISOs, and recruiters alike.

Why This Question is Hard to Answer

Most “how many security engineers” articles fail because they start with opinions instead of variables.
The truth: your number will change based on business stage, compliance, risk, and infrastructure complexity.

Three reasons this is tricky:

1. Security work is invisible until it’s missing, you often only see the gaps after an incident.

2. Security engineer is a broad role, AppSec, CloudSec, Automation, SOC, GRC… each needs different coverage.

3. No universal industry ratio exists, the 1:80 dev baseline is a planning anchor, but risk, compliance, and complexity shift it up or down fast.

💡 That’s why this blog gives you a formula + role breakdown + benchmarks instead of a vague “it depends.”

Security Team Size Calculation Framework

Security engineering workload scales heavily with the size of your development and operations teams.

Multiple industry studies, including the ISC² Cybersecurity Workforce Study and BSIMM benchmarks, suggest that one well-equipped security engineer can typically support security integration for 70–90 developers before quality and coverage begin to drop with 80 often used as a practical planning baseline.

Step 1 – Start with the Developer Ratio

Security engineering workload scales heavily with the size of your development and operations teams.

• Baseline formula:

  • Security Engineers = (Number of Developers / 80)

• 📌 When to Adjust This Baseline:

  • Go lower (1:40–60) if:

    • You’re in a high-risk or regulated industry (fintech, defense, healthcare)

    • Your development teams ship code multiple times a day without mature DevSecOps automation

    • You’re preparing for a compliance audit that requires heavy manual work

  • Go higher (1:100–120) if:

    • Your risk exposure is low and you handle mostly internal tooling

    • You have mature CI/CD pipelines with integrated security scanning

    • A portion of security work is outsourced (MSSP, MDR, vCISO)

Step 2 – Adjust for Compliance & Regulatory Load

Each major compliance framework adds extra security headcount because of audit preparation, control implementation, and evidence gathering.

• Adjustment:

  • SOC 2 Type II → +0.5 engineer

  • ISO 27001 → +0.5 engineer

  • PCI-DSS → +1 engineer

  • HIPAA/HITRUST → +1 engineer

  • Multiple frameworks → add cumulatively, but cap at +2 for efficiency.

Example:
A fintech with 50 developers, SOC 2 + PCI-DSS:

• Base = 50 / 80 = 0.625 (~1 engineer)

• Compliance = +0.5 + 1 = 1.5 → ~3 engineers total (round up for real-world coverage).

Step 3 – Add Based on Risk Profile & Industry

Some industries face more frequent and targeted attacks:

• High-risk (fintech, defense, crypto) → x1.5 multiplier on total

• Medium-risk (SaaS, healthcare, e-commerce) → x1.2 multiplier

• Low-risk (internal tools, non-sensitive data) → no multiplier

Example:
That same fintech above: (3 engineers × 1.5 multiplier) = 4.5 → ~5 engineers.

Step 4 – Factor in Infrastructure Complexity

More complexity = more surface area to secure.

• Single cloud provider, monolith app → no adjustment

• Multi-cloud OR microservices → +1 engineer

• Multi-cloud AND multi-region + multiple products → +2 engineers

Step 5 – Plan for Incident Response Coverage

If you handle incident detection and response in-house (not fully outsourced to an MSSP/MDR), you need Security Analysts or engineers with SOC responsibilities.

• Baseline: 1 analyst per ~500 monthly security alerts

• Small orgs often outsource, mid-large orgs usually in-house.

Step 6 – Apply Hiring Triggers

Even if the math says you can delay, these events mean hire now:

• First enterprise customer with strict security requirements

• Security questionnaires taking >20% of engineering/security time

• Major architecture changes (e.g., moving from single-region AWS to multi-region GCP/AWS)

• 2+ security incidents in the last 12 months

• Customer churn citing security concerns

Some Staffing examples:

💡 Pro Tip:
If your calculated number is below 2, always start with at least 1 dedicated senior security engineer. Anything less, and you’re just “hoping” security gets done.

"If you think hiring professionals is expensive, try hiring amateurs." - Red Adair

From Number to Roles: Staffing Models

By now, you’ve calculated your target headcount using the formula and flowchart.
But “5 security engineers” doesn’t mean hiring 5 people with the same skill set.
Security is a multi-domain discipline, and role allocation determines whether that headcount actually gives you coverage

💡 Tip:
If you calculated a fractional number (e.g., 2.6 engineers), round up and bias towards generalists early, specialists later.

Why That Number Makes Financial Sense

Security engineers aren’t just a cost they’re part of your risk-reduction strategy.
While no hire can guarantee you’ll avoid incidents, the right team size greatly reduces the likelihood and impact of security breaches.

Industry research shows the average cost of a data breach is in the millions, varying by sector:

Why this matters:

• Even a single avoided or mitigated incident can offset the cost of building or expanding your security team.

• Breach costs go far beyond fines they include downtime, customer churn, reputational damage, and disrupted product roadmaps. For regulated sectors, a failed audit can cause project delays, blocked contracts, and costly rework.

💡 Key takeaway:
Hiring to your calculated number is about minimizing exposure to an event that could set your business back months or years.

References:
¹ IBM Security – Cost of a Data Breach Report 2023, IBM Report
² Verizon – Data Breach Investigations Report 2023, Verizon DBIR

Sanity Check: Industry Benchmarks

Still unsure if your number is realistic? Let’s compare it to what similar companies actually do.

Formula Check:

• If you calculated 1:70 in fintech, you’re on the tighter coverage side (good for risk)

• If you calculated 1:110 in healthcare, you’re likely understaffed compared to peers

Beyond Engineers: When to Add Analysts & Pentesters

Your calculation in Section 3 gives you the number of security engineers you need.
But security coverage isn’t complete without eyes-on-glass and adversary simulation.
That’s where security analysts and pentesters come in.

---

Security Analysts (SOC / IR Coverage)

• Role: Monitor alerts, investigate suspicious activity, and escalate incidents to engineers.

• When to Add In-House:

  • You’re processing 500+ security alerts/month internally.

  • Your customers or compliance framework require 24/7 monitoring.

  • You’ve already hired at least 2–3 engineers and need to offload incident triage.

• Ratio: ~1 analyst per 500–700 monthly alerts (or per 24/7 shift if running your own SOC).

• Outsourcing Tip: Early-stage companies can use MSSP/MDR providers until incident volume justifies a full-time hire.

---

Pentesters (Offensive Security Testers)

• Role: Simulate real-world attacks to uncover vulnerabilities before threat actors do.

• When to Engage:

  • Before major product launches.

  • At least once per year for compliance (e.g., PCI-DSS requires annual testing).

  • After significant infrastructure changes (e.g., multi-region expansion, new authentication systems).

• In-House vs. External:

  • Early-stage → Hire external pentesters per engagement (quarterly or annually).

  • Mature org → Consider 1–2 full-time red team members to work with blue team engineers continuously.

• Integration Tip: Feed pentest findings into your engineering backlog with clear remediation owners and deadlines.

Outsourcing vs. In-House: Choosing the Right Mix

Your formula in Section 3 gives you a target headcount, but that doesn’t mean every role needs to be in-house from day one.
Early and mid-stage companies often get better coverage per dollar by outsourcing certain functions until scale and incident volume justify full-time hires.

When to Outsource

Outsourcing works best for functions that are:

• 24/7 by nature (SOC monitoring, threat intelligence)

• Specialized & periodic (pentesting, compliance audits)

• Tool-heavy with high platform costs (SIEM, threat hunting platforms)

Common outsourced services:

• MSSP/MDR → 24/7 monitoring & alert triage

• vCISO → Strategic guidance without a full-time CISO hire

• External Pentesters → Annual or quarterly security testing

• GRC Consultants → Compliance readiness for frameworks like SOC 2, ISO 27001

When to Keep In-House

You want in-house engineers for roles that require:

• Deep integration into product/dev workflows (AppSec, CloudSec)

• Continuous automation & tooling improvements (Security Automation Engineers)

• Immediate incident handling where time-to-response is critical

💡 General Rule:

• If it involves building security into the product or infrastructure, keep it in-house.

• If it involves watching for threats or periodic testing, it can often start outsourced.

Scaling Path

• Stage 1 (0–2 Engineers) → Outsource SOC, pentesting, and compliance; keep one generalist in-house.

• Stage 2 (3–6 Engineers) → Bring AppSec, CloudSec, automation in-house; keep SOC outsourced.

• Stage 3 (7+ Engineers) → Bring SOC/analysts in-house for faster response and tighter integration.

Common Security Hiring Mistakes to Avoid

1. Hiring only juniors to “save budget”

• Security is high-leverage work. Without senior guidance, juniors may miss high-impact risks or misconfigure tools.

• Fix: Always have at least one senior generalist in the team before adding juniors.

2. Skipping foundational security roles

• Example: Hiring a SOC analyst first when no one is there to fix the vulnerabilities they find.

• Fix: Build engineering coverage first, then detection.

3. Treating headcount as static

• Companies often set a number once and never re-evaluate.

• Fix: Recalculate every time your developer headcount changes by 30–40% or you add new compliance obligations.

4. Over-relying on tools instead of people

• SIEMs and scanners don’t replace engineers they need tuning, integration, and follow-up.

• Fix: Hire engineers who can get value out of the tools, not just buy more software.

5. Waiting for an incident to start hiring

• This leads to rushed, reactionary hiring and poor onboarding.

• Fix: Use the formula in Section 3 to plan ahead, not after a breach.

The “Secure Enough” Threshold

In reality, every company has a point where it’s secure enough for its size, risk, and business model and adding more people past that point delivers diminishing returns.

How to know you’re secure enough:

1. Coverage: All critical assets (code, cloud, endpoints, identity) are continuously monitored and regularly tested.

2. Process maturity: Security reviews and testing are integrated into normal development workflows, not treated as special projects.

3. Incident readiness: You can detect, investigate, and respond to incidents within your defined SLA for high-severity events.

4. Compliance health: You can pass required audits without pulling engineers off product work for weeks at a time.

5. Team sustainability: Security engineers aren’t overloaded they have bandwidth for improvement projects, not just firefighting.

💡 The point:
If you’ve met these conditions, your hiring goal shifts from closing urgent gaps to optimizing, automating, and retaining talent.
That’s when you focus on deepening expertise (e.g., adding a threat hunter or security architect) instead of just adding more people.

📌 Quick Reference: Security Hiring Formula Recap

1. Baseline → Dev count ÷ 80 = starting engineers

2. Compliance Adjustment → +0.5 to +1 per framework (max +2)

3. Risk Multiplier → High-risk ×1.5, Medium ×1.2, Low ×1.0

4. Infra Complexity → +1 (multi-cloud or microservices) / +2 (multi-cloud & multi-region)

5. Incident Coverage → +1 analyst per ~500 alerts/mo

6. Hiring Triggers → First enterprise deal, compliance deadline, major infra change, >2 incidents/year

Conclusion

Working with different teams, I’ve seen how easy it is to either delay security hiring until there’s a problem, or add people without a clear plan. Both can cost more than they save.

The framework in this guide might help you strike the right balance, hiring the right roles, at the right time, to keep your business secure without slowing momentum.

Revisit your numbers every quarter, or whenever your developer headcount grows, your compliance scope changes, or your threat environment shifts. Security hiring isn’t a one-off decision it should evolve with your business.

"Security is about people, process, and technology - in that order." - Bruce Schneier

Let’s Talk Security Hiring
I’m always open to meaningful conversations — especially about security strategy, hiring, and scaling security teams.
If you’ve got a challenge, a question, or just want a different perspective, let’s connect.

📅 Book a 30-min slot: cal.com/rahulj/30min

Happy to share what I know, swap ideas, or just listen.