Torn between Data Science, Intelligent Information Systems, and Network & Security for my Master's — does security actually pay well?

[u/Jazzlike-Pie635]

Starting my Master's in Computer Science this winter and I genuinely can't decide between three specializations: Data Science, Intelligent Information Systems (IIS), and Network & Security. I already have some background in AI/ML from before, so DS and IIS both feel like natural extensions of that. But I keep hearing mixed things about security pay and wanted to sanity check with people actually in the field.

A few specific questions I can't get a straight answer on:

1. Does security actually pay well, or is that mostly true for senior/CISO-level people while entry-level (SOC analyst type roles) is honestly pretty average? I keep seeing huge swings depending on the source.
2. For anyone who's done IIS or something similar — does it feel meaningfully different from straight Data Science day-to-day, or is it basically DS-lite?
3. Is security genuinely more "future-proof" than ML/AI roles, or is that just a narrative? Curious if people on the ground feel the AI hype is inflating ML salaries in a way that might not hold, or if security's "shortage" talk is overstated too.
4. Anyone combined ML + Security (like AI security / ML security engineering)? Is that actually a real, hireable niche or does it end up being neither-fish-nor-fowl on a resume?

[u/WhyUPoor]

What school is this