Are You at Risk for Burnout? The Top Causes…and a Sneak Peek at Findings from a New Tenable Study
by Jack Daniel on July 9, 2012
Around the time of RSA in February, I wrote about the risk of burnout for security professionals, and offered some warning signs — including feelings of stress, exhaustion, or a lack of self-efficacy — that might indicate you’re on the burnout scale.
At this year’s Gartner Security and Risk Management Summit, the Tenable team decided to dig a little deeper and conducted a survey that explores a number of security issues, including some of the causes of burnout.
Keep a look out for the official numbers in the coming weeks. In the meanwhile, here are three questions you should ask yourself — based on the early survey findings — to prevent security burnout before you’re on the scale.
Are you working too many hours?
The study found that working 50 hours a week isn’t just ordinary — it’s the minimum for most security pros. In fact, the vast majority of respondents said they work between 70 and 80 hours every week.
There are two schools of thought to consider here. First, security pros see the economic turmoil that surrounds them and are willing to do more to keep their jobs. Or second, security pros have more work (and responsibility) than they can realistically handle. The second option feels more realistic to me, which leads me to my next question…