ISACA survey finds 63 percent of cybersecurity professionals in India saying their role is more stressful now than it was five years ago, in its newly released 2024 State of Cybersecurity report.

Sponsored by Adobe, the survey contains feedback of more than 1,800 cybersecurity professionals worldwide on topics related to the cybersecurity workforce and threat landscape.

Data from 122 Indian cybersecurity professionals revealed the top reasons for this increased stress which are:

An increasingly complex threat landscape (87 percent).

Insufficiently trained staff (54 percent).

Worsening hiring/retention challenges (53 percent).

Lack of prioritization of cybersecurity risks (44 percent).

Low budget (40 percent)

Increasing Cybersecurity Attacks

In line with this sentiment around challenging threats, 29 percent of Indian respondents say their organizations are experiencing increased cybersecurity attacks. These top attack types include social engineering (16 percent), malware (12 percent), denial of service (11 percent) and zero-day exploit (11 percent).

"With the increasing frequency and sophistication of these attacks, it’s essential for organizations to adopt secure authentication methods to strengthen their defenses”, said Mike Mellor, VP of Cyber Operations at Adobe.

 

Resource Challenges

In terms of hiring, 46 percent of India-based organizations say their cybersecurity teams are understaffed, and respondents in India indicate that:

• 30 percent of organizations have no open positions.

• 48 percent of organizations have non-entry level cybersecurity positions open.

• 24 percent have entry-level positions open.

“It is time for organizations to rethink their approach, and focus on better resource allocation, enhanced training, and support systems to build resilient cybersecurity teams that are capable of withstanding future threats”, said RV Raghu, director, Versatilist Consulting India Pvt Ltd, and ISACA India Ambassador.

Skills and Retention Trends

Respondents from India indicate that the main skills gaps they see in cybersecurity professionals are cloud computing (48 percent) and security control implementation (40 percentage).

“This is an opportunity for employers to explore ways to support staff before burnout and attrition occur,” says Jon Brandt, ISACA Director, Professional Practices and Innovation.