New IBM Study states Cybersecurity Responders have Strong Sense of Service to threat

IBM Security’s recent study found that the frontline responders to cyberattacks surveyed are primarily driven by a strong sense of duty to protect others. In 2021 IBM Security X-Force observed cyberattacks against energy companies quadrupling from the year prior, while manufacturers saw more ransomware attacks than any other industry – from food manufacturers to medical devices, cars and steel manufacturers.

As cyberattacks threaten essential services to the daily needs, incident responders in these industries are faced with more pressure to defend the digital front line. In fact, 94% of respondents in India stated that the rise of ransomware has exacerbated the psychological demands associated with cybersecurity incidents. The global survey of over 1,100 cybersecurity incident responders in 10 markets revealed trends and challenges that incident responders experience due to the nature of their profession. Some key highlights include:

· A Sense of Service – Over a third of incident responders were attracted to the field by a sense of duty to protect and opportunity to help others and businesses. For nearly 80% of global respondents, this was one of the top reasons attracting them to IR.

· Fighting Multiple Battlefronts – Amid a growing number of cyberattacks in recent years, 53% of incident responders surveyed in India stated it’s common to be assigned to respond to two or more overlapping incidents simultaneously.

· Impact on Daily Life – The high demands of cybersecurity engagements also affect incident responders’ personal lives, with 68% of respondents in India experiencing stress or anxiety in their daily lives. Insomnia, burnout and impact on social life or relationships followed as effects respondents cited. Despite these challenges, the vast majority acknowledged they have a strong support system in place.

X-Force saw a nearly 25% rise in cybersecurity incidents its IR team engaged in from 2020 to 2021. Check Point Software Technologies research indicates a 50% increase in overall network attacks per week in 2021 compared to 2020. The IBM study found that 68% of incident responders surveyed find it common to simultaneously need to respond to two or more cybersecurity incidents, highlighting a field that is constantly engaged. Amongst respondents in India 39% cited the first 24 hours as often the most stressful or demanding period when responding to a cybersecurity incident.

Laurance Dine, Global Lead, IBM Security X-Force Incident Response, said, “The real-world repercussions that cyberattacks now have are causing public safety concerns and market-stressing risks to grow. Incident responders are the frontline defenders standing between cyber adversaries causing disruption and the integrity and continuity of critical services. IBM salutes all IR teams across the cybersecurity community, and the essential role they play in defending the digital front line.”