High Burnout Rate Among Cybersecurity Experts
Growing threat of attacks combined with skills shortages frustrates security teams.
According to a new study by Bridewell Consulting, U.K. critical national infrastructure (CNI) organizations could face a high rate of cybersecurity executive churn over the next 12 months due to stress and burnout.
Out of the 521 CNI infrastructure decision makers surveyed, 40 percent said stress could cause them to leave their jobs within the next year. They attribute this to two main reasons: 42 percent say a cyberattack is inevitable and they don’t want their careers to suffer. 40 percent say stress and burnout are severely impacting their personal lives.
SOCs use more than 40 tools
Coupled with the ongoing skills shortage, mass layoffs could put many industries in a precarious position. Sixty-eight percent of executives surveyed say it has become more difficult in the past 12 months to find the right people to secure and monitor systems. Traditional security operations centers now require more than 40 different tools to keep cloud and other systems secure.
Commenting on attempts to stem the cycle of burnout and employee retention in the industry, Scott Nicholson, CEO of Bridewell, said employers need to expand the scope of their hiring search to other industries and professions. The upheaval in the cybersecurity market comes at a time when the number of cyberattacks has peaked. In the wake of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, 72 percent of respondents said the number of cyberattacks has increased since the invasion, and 87 percent fear losing their jobs as a result of a cyberattack.
