"91% of Cyber Pros Experience Mental Health Challenges at Work"

According to new research by Sekuro, more than nine in 10 (91%) cybersecurity professionals have experienced mental health challenges at work during the past two years.  The researchers found that over half (51%) of respondents said their mental health struggles were caused by poor culture and/or management styles at work, while 50% attributed these problems to the high-stress nature of their job.  The researchers noted that the other significant factors included a lack of funding for security (41%) and a lack of necessary skills within the team (37%).  More than a third of respondents said that "imposter syndrome" contributed to their mental health issues, which the researchers stated could be attributed to factors like unrealistic expectations and lack of empathy from teams about how to address challenges.  The researchers noted that interestingly, 28% believe their mental health suffered due to remote working, citing a lack of social interactions and the blurring of work/home boundaries.  Notably, unrealistic expectations from their organization's board/executive leadership was the biggest worry for those surveyed (44%), ahead of ransomware and malware attacks (35%) and data breaches (35%).  The researchers stated that the findings suggest that mental health challenges could further exacerbate the cyber skills crisis.  Over a third (37%) of respondents quit their jobs in cybersecurity due to these issues, with 9% changing career paths altogether.  Regarding ways to improve mental health among cybersecurity staff, the respondents said more resourcing and tools (51%), replacing management personnel who contribute to poor mental health outcomes (34%), and the opportunity for workers to give feedback to the leadership team (26%) should be the biggest priorities.

Infosecurity reports: "91% of Cyber Pros Experience Mental Health Challenges at Work"