A new study from NFP cyber mental health support initiative Cybermindz.org shows early evidence of burnout in cyber security professionals, signalling a potential loss of skills to Australia’s cyber security sector.
While stress and burnout are not unique, the not-for-profit organisation points out that systemic weaknesses in human cyber defences tend to impact society at mass levels.
The stress from these vulnerabilities is even more pronounced when essential services like water, energy, telecommunications, health, financial services, food distribution and transportation are affected.
As Australia continues to adapt from the continuing fallout of the Optus and Medibank data breaches, Cybermindz.org states that cyber security professionals’ mental health may deteriorate at an accelerated pace.
The organisation warns that, unless policymakers recognise the mental health impacts on Australia’s embattled cyber workforce, this deterioration will create a cascading effect of reduced effectiveness and increased risk.
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While the research is still ongoing, Cybermindz founder and veteran internet industry leader Peter Coroneos explained the importance of signalling the emerging trend.
Mr Coroneos compared the situation to ‘the canary in the cybersecurity coal mine’.
“Most of our critical systems now have cyber risk exposure — it’s not hard to see that a reduction in our national cyber capability due to psychological burnout may have population-wide downstream effects,” he says.
“The pandemic, floods and bushfires have shown us the systems we rely upon are not to be taken for granted. Cyber attacks are a daily occurrence and, unlike natural disasters, there is no conceivable endpoint in sight.”
Mr Coroneos added that cyber security workers are the unsung heroes of today’s time, as a breach that can affect millions of people makes headlines.
However, he also states that one successful attack that could end their careers could be around the corner.
“They are mission-driven with a strong protective ethos. But a sense of hopelessness will eventually take its toll on even the most committed worker,” he says.
“So it’s important we recognise their efforts and invest in their wellbeing. We must build a strong and resilient cyber workforce. If they fall, we all fall.”
Cybermindz.org Director of Organisational and Behavioural Research Dr Andrew Reeves is leading the study on cyber mental health.
“Although these are preliminary results, they point to a worrying trend. On the key burnout metric of ‘professional efficacy’ – or how well cyber workers think they are performing in their current roles – they scored significantly worse than the general population,” Dr Reeves says.
“We also compared their rates of burnout on this metric to another highly burnt-out industry: that of frontline healthcare workers, and found that the cyber professionals score considerably lower than even this group on this metric.”
Dr Reeves states that the preliminary results from the study are worrying as it is a predictor of intention to resign.
“As a result, I think we are seeing early indications of a cohort of professionals who are questioning their own effectiveness and concluding their efforts are in vain,” he says.
“When good people leave the industry, we lose so much knowledge and expertise. It then increases the pressure on those who remain behind. As a psychological driver of burnout, it’s something we should all be concerned about.”
Source: Cybermindz.org news release. Content has been edited for style and length.