83% of Indian cybersecurity, IT workers impacted by burnout, fatigue

New Delhi : Lack of resources, routine aspects of the role, increased level of pressure from the board, and others are the reasons causing 83 per cent of Indian cybersecurity and IT professionals burnout and fatigue issues, a new report said on Monday.

According to the cybersecurity firm Sophos, stress and burnout were directly attributed as a cause of cybersecurity and IT professional resignations in 33 per cent of companies in India.

Organisations also reported that 31 per cent of cybersecurity or IT employees had "moved on" from their roles due to stress or burnout.

"Burnout and fatigue are undermining these areas and organisations need to step up to provide the right support to employees especially when, according to our research, 25 per cent of Indian respondents identified that cybersecurity burnout or fatigue contributed to, or was directly responsible for, a cybersecurity breach," said Aaron Bugal, field CTO at Sophos.

The report included a total of 919 responses captured from Australia (204 companies), India (202), Japan (204), Malaysia (104), The Philippines (103) and Singapore (102).

Moreover, the report revealed that burnout is felt across almost all aspects of cybersecurity operations, with 93 per cent saying that feelings of burnout increased in the last 12 months, the highest across the Asia Pacific and Japan.

In addition, 25 per cent identified that cybersecurity burnout or fatigue contributed to, or was directly responsible for, a cybersecurity breach and 22 per cent of companies experienced slower than average response times to cybersecurity incidents.

"Boards and executive committees need to drive change and demand responsibility from their deputised charges, in essence for better governance around cyber approaches," Bugal said. Further, the report mentioned that about 48 per cent felt heightened levels of anxiety if subject to a breach or attack.