The relentless surge in cyber threats not only burdens budgets, processes, and reputations but also takes a toll on the morale of personnel. As workload and pressure rise, frustration, stress, and ultimately, negative health effects can ensue. What does the reality of cyber threats actually mean for the daily work of IT groups? Eine aktuelle Sophos-Umfrage gibt Aufschluss.
Approximately 24.3 percent of professionals remain perpetually frustrated with their tasks in cyber defense. Among operations with up to 1,000 employees, the value exhibits minimal variation; conversely, in companies with over 1,000 staff members, it appears that the burden amounts to 17.9 percent, which is corroborated by the statement that 33.3 percent of IT personnel in large corporations claim not to feel frustrated at all. While IT decision-makers at companies with fewer than 50 employees report feeling frustrated just 16.7% of the time, the overall average frustration rate across all company sizes stands at a relatively high 25.7%. Despite the frustration, nearly half of cybersecurity professionals confirm that they are frequently exasperated, with a staggering 75% of respondents admitting to feeling drained in their ongoing battle against cybercriminals.
The most significant burden (45.3%) for IT security personnel stems from the industry-wide surge in cyber threats on average. Here is the improved/revised text:
Notably, there appears to be a significant disparity with regard to company size here as well. While companies with up to 49 employees highlight this aspect only 36 percent of the time, it becomes a top priority among firms with over 1,000 employees.
With a staggering 40.7%, second only to the heightened pressure from corporate leadership, comes the stress that pervades across industries and affects all businesses. Small and medium-sized enterprises with up to 49 employees or those with 250-999 staff members experience the greatest pressure from above, with 44% or 46.9%, respectively, citing this as their top frustration. Corporate employees, for whom cyber security has likely been a crucial concern for some time, feel significantly less burdened with only 23.1 percent citing it as their top concern.
To contribute to the exhaustion of IT professionals are monotony and routine (30.7% on average), as well as grueling efforts to track diverse cyberattacks stemming from disparate security solutions (24.7%), overwhelming notifications from cybersecurity tools (19.3%), and inadequate knowledge among staff regarding cyber threats, leading to unprepared behavior (18.7%).
According to Michael Veit, cybersecurity expert at Sophos, the results unmistakably reveal that in most IT departments, there is a pressing need for action when it comes to cybersecurity. While frustration levels are rising, entrenched problems such as the lack of skilled workers, heterogeneous IT systems, or insufficient budgets stand in the way. While larger enterprises often have a dedicated IT security strategy in place, this is frequently lacking or only partially implemented for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMBs). The outcome is immense stress that has been starkly underscored by the current survey’s findings. To address the identified issues and reduce employee frustration, modern Safety-as-a-Service solutions are particularly appealing, allowing companies of all sizes to quickly and easily onboard a cybersecurity expert team to alleviate their in-house IT department’s burden. We have already supported over 24,000 businesses worldwide in bringing more calm and reliability to their daily IT routine.
The survey was conducted by techconsult on behalf of Sophos in August and September 2024 among 202 IT professionals from industries including manufacturing, commerce, banks, insurance companies, public administration, telecommunications, service providers, and utilities firms in small and large German businesses.
