Staffing shortage a contributing factor to cybersecurity vulnerabilities

Editor's Note

According to a new report, titled “The State of Security 2022” from Software company Splunk, mass resignations and gaps in staffing may be contributing to cybersecurity companies’ inability to defend against certain cyberattacks, Becker’s Health IT April 25 reports.

The report surveyed more than 1,000 cybersecurity leaders across several industries, including healthcare, to identify the biggest cybersecurity challenges of 2022. Among other findings, it showed that the increased number of resignations, higher turnovers, “talent shortages,” and difficulty replacing departed staff have “negatively” affected projects.

Here’s a breakdown:

• 26% of leaders are dealing with understaffing challenges (up from 22% in 2021)
• over 53% of leaders said they can’t hire enough staff
• 85% of leaders said “it has gotten harder to recruit and retain talent” in the past 12 months
• 87% of overall respondents reported skills- or talent-related issues
• 76% of respondents said they were “forced to take on responsibilities they were not prepared for”
• 70% of respondents said the increase in workload caused them to start looking for other jobs.

“A concerning figure was that 68% of talent shortages led directly to the failure of one or more cybersecurity projects,” Becker’s noted.

Access the full 2022 state of security report here.