Indications are that cyber criminals have highly scalable resources when it comes to exploiting unprecedented situations like pandemics and lockdowns. These accumulated pressures can only add to the chances that the mental health of cyber security professionals will suffer as the situations unfolds, particularly if subsequent ‘waves’ of contagion occur (as some health experts have warned of) and prolong an already hyper-critical situation.
Scheduled work routine breaks that might help an individual find respite from the predicament –such as vacations or visits to cyber security industry exhibitions and conferences, like it-sa – are curtailed until the emergency is deemed past.
“In a world increasingly focussed on the scourge of mental illness, it seems appropriate to try to understand the exposure of security professionals to the work-related aspects of this condition,” says the Chartered Institute of Information Security (CIISec)’s ‘The Security Profession in 2020’ report, based on a survey of its members.
In reply to the question ‘Have you or someone you know left a job due to overwork/burn-out?’, 18% of respondents said that they had left a role due to the pressure or risk of ‘burning out’. A further 25% of CIISec members have at least thought about it.
As this year’s pandemic has proved, Europe’s cyber security professionals must now deal with the disruptive impacts of viruses of many kinds.
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