It was bound to happen and it appears it has just begun – cyber burn-out.

Recently a few security professional expressed symptoms that are associated with burn-out. This type of attitude is so uncharacteristic of these individuals. They are talking about, and more importantly, exhibiting the depletion and drain of professional drive.

Security professionals operate in a high stress environment that often times has outcomes that are dependent on factors that are outside of their control. Burning out is characterized as the process of realization and reflection of the failure to uncover the real meaning of their work.

Each and every day our security staff faces a barrage of attacks from faceless perpetrators whose sole objective is to compromise the systems and data these professionals protect. Each and every day they face known attack methods as well as the latest release of malware while they deal with the latest vulnerability announcements and patches.

Many sit on pins and needles waiting for the next incident knowing it is just a matter of time. Some take the breach of their security measures to heart and feel their skills and knowledge did not measure up to the challenge. Let’s not forget about the actions of users who fail to follow policies and procedures that are often the cause of security breaches.

It is the dedication of these individuals that make them so susceptible to burn-out. The organization’s mindset that security is a given and is expected without recognizing there are thousands of hackers and malware writers who get rewarded for their successes – a breach of a targeted system.

Security professional on the other hand rarely experience praise, let alone reward for their efforts.