Cyber security workers expected to leave industry amid burnout

High-flying salaries aren’t enough to keep some Australian workers in this career, with stress levels rising and warnings of a shortage on the way.

Cyber security workers are thinking of leaving their jobs in droves as rising workload pressure and stress levels bite.

The findings from a survey of Australia and New Zealand IT workers by cloud security company Lacework come amid concerns about a cyber skill shortage in Australia over the next four years.

The research reveals 57 per cent of local cybersecurity professionals are either looking for new employers or considering exiting the industry altogether.

The overarching concern threatening to cause a mass exodus of workers was rising stress levels, with 87 per cent citing “burnout from workload”.

There are currently 47,000 people employed in cyber security roles in Australia. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Damian Shaw

Workers are also saying it’s now harder to be a part of the profession, as demand for their work rises, with 54 per cent saying they now find cyber security a more challenging work environment than when they started.

The average cyber security worker in Australia earns $120,000 per year, with entry-level salaries starting at $100,000.

The warning that workers could begin to leave the profession comes as another report found the industry would face a shortage in coming years.

Australia‘s Cyber Security Sector Competitiveness Plan (ACSSCP) from AustCyber found the industry will face a shortfall of 3000 cyber security workers by 2026.

Russian hackers carried out a cyberattack on Medibank which breached the data of 9.7 million people, including the Prime Minister, police said. Picture: Muhammad Farooq / AFP

The looming shortage comes as the report found the number of cyber-attacks in Australia is expected to double over the next five years.

Australians are already under threat from cyber attacks, experiencing such an event every one to two minutes, with 745 reported per day in 2021.

Workers responding to Lacework’s survey also flagged concerns about a skills shortage, with one in four saying current resourcing is failing to meet modern needs.

Cyber security staff also cited issues with the number and quality of tools – for example, cyber security programs – used in their work, with staff in Australia and New Zealand having to learn 12.9 different tools on average.

The number of cyber crimes is on the rise, with 745 reported per day in 2021. Dennis Su, 19, has been charged with using data stolen during the Optus breach to blackmail customers into giving him $2000 each. He was arrested at his home in Rockdale in early October. Picture: AFP

Almost one-third of those surveyed rated them as poor, with three-quarters saying they could be more accurate.

These tools, combined with a huge workload, have meant security alerts aren’t being checked by workers, the report found.

Approximately two-thirds (64 per cent) of Australian and New Zealand organisations fail to check all alerts – leaving the company’s operations open to risk.

The looming shortage comes as the report found the number of cyber attacks in Australia is expected to double over the next five years, according to the ACSSCP

Australians are already under threat from cyber attacks, experiencing such an event every one to two minutes, with 745 reported per day in 2021.

The nation has been rocked by historic hacks on Optus and Medibank, with nearly 10 million Australians having their data breached in each attack.

Data from almost 10 million Optus customers were accessed by hackers in September, with passports, drivers licences and Medicare numbers among the information breached.

The Medibank attack involved personal information, including medical records accessed by hackers, who have begun publicly releasing data, such as details about customers’ substance abuse and pregnancy terminations.