Cybersecurity Burnout Is Crushing Your Effectiveness
Cybersecurity burnout in security and IT teams isn’t new, but it feels like it’s hit an inflection point.
More sophisticated methods of attack, new technologies changing the game, the added challenges of working from home, outdated defense playbooks (we could go on).
Cybersecurity teams — whether large teams with SIEM systems or small businesses with just one person handling multiple IT roles — are expected to keep up with all this. Small businesses often lack EDR systems, making them virtually undefended against sophisticated cyber threats, while those that do have EDR systems are often bombarded with a barrage of alerts.
If a stress-free day existed in the past, it certainly doesn’t anymore.
All roads lead to a new high of cybersecurity burnout: high stress, little time off, poor team communication, intense demands, and insufficient resources. All this comes at a time when CFOs are scrutinizing every dime.
And (surprise, surprise) it’s difficult to make a case for investing in cybersecurity when you're running around all day chasing alerts and wondering: Is this the one that'll get us?
Ultimately, the idea of going “above and beyond” to add to business value is unrealistic for most IT and security professionals. The cycle has become so ingrained that many cyber security teams want to throw their hands up and say, “That’s life!”
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
What is cybersecurity burnout and how is it putting your bottom line on the line?
“Cybersecurity burnout” and “alert fatigue” are ways of expressing the exhaustion cybersecurity teams feel about the sheer volume of alert triaging they do.
It’s also about teams being stretched thin or not having enough staff and technology.
According to a study by Trend Micro, 70% of SOC teams report that their home lives are emotionally impacted by managing IT threat alerts, with 55% admitting they aren't confident they’re even prioritizing and responding to alerts effectively.
Causes of alert fatigue
Constant change: What was trending yesterday in the world of cybersecurity may have been overblown and could be of lesser concern tomorrow when something new takes its place. Small or single-person cybersecurity teams need to be able to constantly educate themselves to keep up but don’t have the time in the day.
Endless alerts: Security tools generate numerous alerts to ensure no threat is missed, leading to an overwhelming flood of notifications. A typical SOC can receive hundreds or thousands of alerts daily, most of which are benign — but if you don’t know which ones, you may chase the harmless ones and overlook the real threats.
Interruptions: Cybersecurity workers are often assigned "top priority" projects deemed "business critical" but also inundated with tickets. Prioritizing longer-term critical projects over urgent tickets can lead to pushback. This constant switching between priorities without sufficient support leads to a cycle of stress and inefficiency, exacerbating alert burnout.
Underprepared analysts: Junior analysts usually lack the experience and tools to fine-tune the prioritization of alerts effectively, exacerbating the problem. Without proper training and experience, they're more likely to struggle with distinguishing false positives from real threats.
Small teams: For the majority of small businesses, there’s no cyber "team" at all, just one person to whom the responsibility of cybersecurity falls. And that person is usually wearing so many hats they’ve become top-heavy.
All of these reasons add up to one problem: Many small and medium-sized organizations are virtually undefended. And while cyber attacks grow more sophisticated by the day, this puts the entire business at risk.
70% of SOC teams report that their home lives are emotionally impacted by managing IT threat alerts — Trend Micro
EDR and SIEM systems are important security tools, but they create a mountain of work that can be impossible for small teams to manage: hundreds of alerts streaming in that need to be manually investigated, a lot of them being false positives.
While security tools can increase the likelihood that an adversary is detected and evicted before doing harm, their effectiveness will be limited if you don’t have a team that can figure out which alerts matter and investigate them quickly.
Whether you have a SOC or a small IT team running security, you probably don’t have the space and time to be proactive about cybersecurity as a strategic arm of the business: working with other departments, setting up proactive security playbooks and measures, and making sure that their security is robust enough so the business can grow.
The expectations are no longer realistic or fair.
This constant cycle of reacting to alerts (or missing them altogether) is causing many employees, passionate about their work, to become disillusioned with the job. Which is dangerous for businesses, considering the consequences …
Consequences of cyber burnout
Everyone has heard the horror stories about what happens when cybersecurity fails. People coming into work to find their systems compromised. Streams of sensitive data leaked. Millions of dollars lost.
Whether cybersecurity professionals are drowning in alerts or not getting alerts at all, the truly harmful threats can slip through the cracks. And those threats don’t just affect the entire business’ bottom line, they can erase the bottom line altogether.
While security tools can increase the likelihood that an adversary is detected and evicted before doing harm, their effectiveness will be limited if you don’t have a team that can figure out which alerts matter and investigate them quickly.
The constant pressure leads to high turnover rates, particularly in SOCs, where burnout is rampant. Talented professionals leave, costing the business money in recruitment and training.
High turnover rates are often linked to the stressful nature of the job, where professionals feel undervalued and overworked. But eliminating alert fatigue can have the opposite effect. Cybersecurity teams have an opportunity to increase the bottom line with more strategic and proactive approaches — and sleep at night.
Shift from alert fatigue to strategic cybersecurity
Alert burnout isn't just a nuisance; it’s a critical issue that stifles the strategic value of your cybersecurity function.
When properly resourced — or with external solutions for everyday problems — your cybersecurity function should be able to:
Take proactive measures to improve your security posture, not just react to problems as they arise
Plan for business continuity
Train your staff
Help marketing and sales teams articulate your security measures to reassure security-conscious customers
In short, businesses need new tactics to drive business value from cybersecurity.
In this series, we’ll explore how cyber teams can overcome daily threat management challenges to create space for adding and proving value. Our next blog offers tips for teams to more effectively prioritize alerts.
