High pressure

Salaries may be lower than desired, but white-hat hackers keep busy. Yang is a frequent flier, and he complains that he has no personal life.

"Since June, I have always been on a flight to Shanghai, Shenzhen, in Guangdong province, or Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, during the weekends, and it is still going on," he said.

"I am physically and mentally exhausted, but I am still persisting because I love the security job and always have a great passion," he said.

In the past, he supplied online security testing for companies, but with the fast development in the industry, he needs to handle many issues in person and through on-site training.

"In this way, I have to go to the companies to communicate. After all, some thorny or complicated security risks are not suitable to discuss in calls or on the Internet," he said.

Additionally, as a leader of the white-hat hackers at WooYun, Yang also is in charge of contacting companies in different cities and calling them regularly to share new industry findings.

Liu Hui, 25, who has a doctorate in security from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, said it is not difficult for her and her classmates to find security jobs, but identifying high-paid work without frequent business trips is challenging.

"If my future security job demands that I fly all the time and asks me to devote more time and energy, maybe I will change to another job or even consider leaving the industry," said Liu, who works for a security lab in the university.

Although Liu does not face excessive work currently, she is often asked to participate in security competitions, which occupy her spare time.

"I've felt the big pressure in the industry, so now I've decided to select some interesting or useful competitions that can improve my security skills to take part in," she said.

Guo, of Bangcle, said the younger generation's family members or friends don't always understand the commitment the field requires.

"The security technology, for many smartphone users, is too professional or advanced to understand," Guo said.

Additionally, the lower salaries have even made it challenging for some white-hat hackers to afford their apartment rentals in Beijing, Shanghai and Guangdong.

"The living challenges sometimes cause a few security protectors to be real hackers, as the 'black market' could bring them great profits," said Guan, of Kingsoft.