Heck yeah it is valuable. My area has numerous employers that are eager to hire people with that skill set. It pays more than the typical software development jobs. Most of the jobs seem to be related to how things get hacked into. One can play defense or offense.
Informally I was told I could get a 40% instant raise by joining a company like this. I bet it can be more than that though. I haven’t pursued it yet because I don’t think my skill is enough.
I've seen people doing that stuff get yearly pay that is about the price of a house. That is good pay. I've seen stock given, and I've seen bonuses that seem nice, but it makes more sense to focus on pay. The pay is fine.
Heck yeah it is valuable. My area has numerous employers that are eager to hire people with that skill set. It pays more than the typical software development jobs. Most of the jobs seem to be related to how things get hacked into. One can play defense or offense.
I post about my employer in the "Who is hiring?" sometimes: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21422735