Security Professionals Are Tired of Being Ignored!

Nearly a third of cybersecurity professionals frustrated by their advice being ignored

KnowBe4 has today announced the results of a survey conducted at Infosecurity Europe 2024 (4-6 June) among 201 cybersecurity professionals to better understand and gauge the sentiment around trending cybersecurity issues.

Amongst the key findings from the survey, the top frustration felt by security professionals was that their advice was being ignored (29%) while 15% stated a lack of skilled workers to employ was their biggest gripe. A further 13% highlighted working in an inadequate security culture or environment was their biggest gripe, with the same percentage (13%) of security professionals claiming they had too many tools to manage at their organisations.

“Whilst the frustrations here are all entirely valid, this highlights the importance of fostering a robust security culture within organisations, where cybersecurity is viewed as a shared responsibility rather than the sole responsibility of the IT department,” said Javvad Malik, lead security awareness advocate at KnowBe4. He continues, “Organisations must shift away from the antiquated once-a-year training model, where they inundate employees with an overwhelming amount of information over an hour or more in a bid to complete the training.”

Adopting newer, more user-friendly approaches should be leveraged by organisations which can prove to be incredibly powerful in promoting security awareness and fostering a culture of cybersecurity vigilance. From here, more champions of cybersecurity can be found within the company who spread awareness of cybersecurity best practices, helping to lessen the burden on the security department.

National Service including Cybersecurity education

Remarkably, when questioned about the potential reintroduction of National Service in the UK, only a third (33%) of security professionals supported this. However, this figure jumps to nearly half (48%) who expressed support for the idea of National Service if it incorporated cybersecurity education, leaving the remaining proportion either unsure or opposed to the proposition.

“This division in perspectives highlights the complexity of the issue but provides evidence that there is a growing recognition of the urgent need to expand cybersecurity education, particularly to the younger generation, and equip individuals with the necessary skills to navigate this increasingly digital world safely,” said Malik. “Yet, the equal number of those who are unsure or opposed underscores the contentious nature of using National Service for this purpose which can arise from hesitation about the effectiveness of the programme or the practical challenges of implementing them.”

To view the findings, please click here.

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