The main reason security professionals want to leave their jobs is a lack of executive accountability for strategic security decisions, according to new research.
A survey of more than 300 security professionals and executives around the world conducted by LogRhythm found that 42% of participants wanted to quit over inadequate executive accountability.
The findings of the survey were published today in the report The State of the Security Team: Are Executives the Problem? LogRhythm commissioned the report to understand the root causes of the stress under which security teams operate, obtain feedback on how stress can be alleviated and identify the best paths to remediation.
Worryingly, the report revealed that 75% of security professionals feel they now experience more work-related stress than they did just two years ago.
“Now, more than ever, security teams are being expected to do more with less, leading to increasing stress levels. With more organizations operating under remote work conditions, the attack surface has broadened, making security at scale a critical concern,” said James Carder, CSO and VP of LogRhythm Labs. “This is a call to action for executives to prioritize alleviating the stress and better support their teams with proper tools, processes and strategic guidance.”
When asked what causes the majority of work-related stress, the two most commonly given answers were not having enough time (41%) and working with executives (18%). More than half of respondents (57%) stated that their security program lacks proper executive support, defined in the survey as the provision of strategic vision, buy-in and budget.
The top five responses given as to what would help alleviate workplace stress were an increased security budget (44%), experienced security team members (42%), better cooperation from other IT teams (42%), a supportive executive team (41%) and a fully staffed security team (39%).
Other key findings of the survey were that 93% of security professionals felt they lack the tools to detect known security threats, and 92% said they do not have the appropriate preventative solutions to close current security gaps.
Only one in three companies (32%) said that they have a real-time security dashboard that provides a clear, consolidated view of all their security solutions.