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How can we better support security professionals in today's landscape...
In the high-pressure world of security, professionals are facing constant challenges which, for many, is having an enormous impact on their mental well-being.
Their dedication to protect their organisations from harm is putting security professionals under immense strain. The ongoing pressure to stay ahead of sophisticated threats, the unpredictability that comes with the role, combined with the "always-on" and “eyes-on-glass" nature of the job, is taking a significant toll on many professionals' mental health.
A recent study by Tines revealed that a staggering 64% of security professionals acknowledge that their work significantly impacts their mental health. Moreover, nearly a quarter of respondents reported that their work very often affects their mental well-being, with another 23.2% stating it fairly often does.
But it's not just about work impacting mental health; the reverse is also true. A significant portion of respondents expressed feelings of stress, frustration, and burnout due to various workplace factors. For instance, over 20% reported feeling upset at work due to unexpected events, while a similar percentage felt they lacked control over important tasks or projects. Additionally, feelings of nervousness and stress was high among respondents, with over 45% experiencing these emotions regularly.
These statistics paint a stark picture of the toll that the demanding nature of security work can take on individuals and it's clear that more needs to be done to support the mental health of security professionals.
Employers must recognise the challenges their teams face and provide the necessary resources and support to mitigate the impact of stress and burnout. It's crucial for organisations to provide not just lip service but tangible support to make a real difference.
While establishing a supportive work environment, granting access to mental health resources, and championing work-life balance are important steps to address these issues, this is only the start.
Our latest blog discusses some of the measures organisations can take to help reduce the pressure on the security workforce.
What can be done?
One of the biggest triggers for anxiety is feeling out of control. Security professionals that lack solid support from leadership, a clear strategy, or a dedicated security team, are likely to experience heightened stress levels.
To ease this pressure, organisations need to take a proactive approach to security and build resilience within the team.
Prioritising resilience is crucial in today's volatile world and by investing in resilient processes, skilled personnel, and a supportive culture, organisations can help mitigate some of the unnecessary stress and pressure.
So, what are the steps that can be taken?
Make your security team’s lives easier by training your staff in situational awareness
Human error can add a great deal more stress and vulnerabilities for security teams to handle.
As an organisation, you need to invest in relevant training programmes to give all employees the skills and knowledge needed to identify and respond to security threats effectively. This training needs to be made compulsory, company-wide, and followed up by rigorous testing and further training to ensure there is a proficient level of understanding and that people can apply it to real life situations.
When planning training, find something that will cover all security risks, for example, training your team on how to spot a phishing email - but also giving them a better understanding of the risks of letting someone tailgate them into the building!
Other training that might be beneficial are incident response drills, crisis management simulations, or travel awareness training, to prepare the team for real-world scenarios and help them by taking away the element of the unknown.
Create an open environment
It is important to create a workplace environment where employees feel empowered to communicate openly, collaborate effectively, and innovate solutions to emerging challenges.
Make it easy for employees to ask questions and know who to contact with any security concerns. By creating this environment of open conversation and trust, the team will feel more comfortable sharing any concerns rather than keeping them to themselves, and the saying is true about a problem shared!
This culture needs to include a willingness to accept error is a human failing; accept that staff will click links in a phishing emails, and create a culture where they feel able to report the incident, have it dealt with, and receive closure, rather than worrying about the consequences of being discovered – which will only result in a data breach.
Enforce a security rota which includes periods of rest
Security staff operate in a state of heightened vigilance, and remaining in this state can lead to fatigue. Providing your staff with rest periods, or limiting overtime to prevent burnout, is protecting your staff from stress, and your site from becoming insecure.
Understanding critical assets
A big step towards building resilience involves gaining a solid understanding of your organisation's critical assets.
These are the resources essential for maintaining operations. Consider the potential impact of an attack and identify your critical assets. For instance, for local authorities, critical assets include the data relied upon by citizens, including housing benefits and social care provisions. It's important to have a clear plan in place of how to safeguard these assets in the event of an attack.
Put in a plan for when it does go wrong
You need to adopt the mindset that something will happen, and you need to have the measures in place to ensure that you can recover quickly and effectively from security incidents to minimise disruption and downtime.
A comprehensive incident response plan is fundamental to resilience as it facilitates swift recovery from an attack. This plan consolidates coordinating functions that guide, inform, and support the entire response process. It encompasses various aspects, from triaging and categorising incidents to core response strategies. Putting this in place takes away some of the element of the ‘unknown’ and will give everyone clear guidance of the steps needed to be taken.
Developing a business continuity disaster recovery plan
Every organisation should have robust business continuity disaster recovery measures in place to ensure the resumption of normal operations post-attack. This plan should encompass a comprehensive strategy for maintaining team productivity during planned or unplanned disruptions, such as cyber-attacks.
The significance of resilience in the workplace cannot be overstated. In an increasingly volatile and uncertain world, organisations that prioritise resilience are better equipped to withstand disruptions and safeguard their operations.
As well as these steps it’s important to also look at your workplace culture to see if there is any more that you could be offering to your employees. We’d recommend setting up employee resource groups and forums to help assess workplace satisfaction, address any issues and to find out what your employees really value (remember everyone is motivated differently!). A coaching and mentoring scheme can be really beneficial and help the team always have someone to talk to and help guide them in tricker situations. Your employees are your greatest assets so make sure you are looking after them!
By investing in resilient processes, skilled personnel, and a supportive organisational culture, businesses can mitigate the impact of stress and anxiety on workplace productivity and relationships, ensuring their long-term success and sustainability.
In the high-pressure world of security, professionals are facing constant challenges which for many is having an enormous impact on their mental well-being.
If you are impacted by mental health issues, here are some resources that we'd recommend.
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/mental-health-awareness-week
https://mentalhealth-uk.org/get-involved/mental-health-awareness-days/mental-health-awareness-week/
https://www.mentalhealth.org.uk/our-work/public-engagement/mental-health-awareness-week