45% of cybersecurity leaders feel the pressure of budget constraints
The stress of cybersecurity professionals was examined in a recent report by ISACA. Sixty-six percent of cybersecurity professionals state that their role is more stressful now than it was five years ago, as per the report.
Aligned with this concern about challenging threats, 38% of organizations are facing an increase in cybersecurity attacks compared to 31% from a year ago. The primary attack types include social engineering (19%), malware (13%), unpatched systems (11%), and Denial of Service (11%).
Moreover, nearly half (47%) anticipate a cyberattack on their organization in the next year, with 40% expressing high confidence in their team’s ability to detect and respond to cyber threats.
Despite the increasingly challenging threat landscape, the survey reveals that cybersecurity budgets and staffing are not keeping up. More than half (51%) believe that cyber budgets are underfunded (up from 47% in 2023), and 37% anticipate budget increases in the upcoming year.
While 57% of organizations acknowledge their cybersecurity teams are understaffed, the pace of hiring has slightly decreased:
- 38% have no vacant positions, as compared to 35% last year.
- 46% have non-entry level cybersecurity positions available, compared to 50% in the previous year.
- 18% have entry-level positions vacant, as opposed to 21% last year.
Employers looking for qualified candidates for open roles prioritize prior hands-on experience (73%) and held credentials (38%). Respondents identify soft skills (51%) — such as communication, critical thinking, and problem-solving — and cloud computing (42%) as the main skills gaps observed in cybersecurity professionals.
For over half of the survey participants (55%) who reported challenges in retaining qualified cyber candidates, the main reasons for departure included being recruited by other companies (50%, down by eight points from 2023), inadequate financial incentives (50%), limited promotion and development opportunities (46%), and high levels of work stress (46%).
