On National Stress Awareness Day 2022, it wouldn’t be unthinkable to assume that healthcare cybersecurity professionals are experiencing higher-than-normal stress levels and may be at high risk. for their mental health.
There is tension caused by the constant threat of attack that is now weighing heavily on the entire cybersecurity force. Dr Andrew Reeves, the group’s director of organizational and behavioral research, said the preliminary results of the burnout study among cyber professionals from mental health support organization Cybermindz are based in London. Australia, announced this week, points to a worrying trend. .
He explains in a research update that based on a key burnout measure of professional performance, the network professionals surveyed to date have scored significantly worse than the general population.
He added: “We also compared their burnout rates on this metric to another very burnout industry: that of frontline healthcare workers, and found that cyber professionals scored significantly lower. compared to this group in this data.
The waterfall effect of network employee stress
The organization suggests a decline in the mental health of network workers – who protect the operation of essential services such as water, energy, telecommunications, healthcare, financial services, distribution and food transport – affects the entire population.
“Most of our mission-critical systems today are at risk – it’s not hard to see that a reduction in our national network capacity is caused by a reduction in our national network capacity,” said Peter Coroneos, founder of Cybermindz and industry veteran. Psychological burnout can have an impact on entire populations,” said Peter Coroneos, founder of Cybermindz and industry veteran.
“The pandemic, floods and wildfires have shown us that the systems we rely on are not taken for granted,” he said in the announcement.
Coroneos didn’t interrupt when he identified the stressors experienced by cybersecurity professionals:
- A single failure through a cyber breach that can affect millions of people will cause a stir in public opinion.
- The attack environment evolves rapidly and constantly challenges the cyber workforce’s sense of accomplishment.
- Cyber professionals with the notion that a successful attack could end their careers may be just around the corner.
- Although primarily mission-driven, cyber professionals are imbued with the sense of hopelessness that can be caused by the constant threat of attack.
“We must build a strong and resilient cyber workforce,” he urged in the research update. “If they fall, we all fall.”
Resignations increase thanks to ransomware
Mimecast’s latest State of Ransomware global survey of 1,100 cybersecurity decision-makers, conducted in July, also indicates the seriousness of these concerns.
As ransomware continues to grow into 2022, burnout and resignation rates are on the rise, according to the company blog last week.
“Among the many consequences of this siege, the cybersecurity experts we surveyed recounted a large number of people, including everything from burnout and absenteeism. Faced with employee desertion and reduced confidence in the organization’s ability to resist attacks, a third said Dr. Kiri Addison, head of threat intelligence data scientist at Mimecast, was thinking of leaving their role within the next two years due to stress.
About 54% of Mimecast respondents said they had a negative impact on mental health. Such metrics can predict intention to resign.
“I think we’re seeing early signs of a group of professionals questioning their own effectiveness and concluding that their efforts are futile. When the good people leave the industry, they leave the industry. we’re going to lose a lot of knowledge and expertise, which increases the pressure on the Reeves to conclude.
While regular training in cybersecurity incident response is needed to maintain patient safety, it can also assist healthcare professionals in cybersecurity, according to CISOs who spoke with IT news about healthcare last month in a discussion about building network security muscle memory.
Performing regular cybersecurity incident response training exercises in the medical field can build confidence by knowing what to do, they say.
Andrea Fox is the senior editor of Healthcare IT News.
Email: [email protected]
Healthcare IT News is a HIMSS publication.
