Cybersecurity is complicated, with countless moving parts that all contribute to a well-protected network. This includes password changes, multi-factor authentication, and policies and procedures that could make the average workday a headache for the average office worker. Cybersecurity burnout is a real thing, and it’s becoming a major problem for businesses that don’t approach it intentionally.

How Does Security Fatigue Work?

Imagine for a moment that you are an employee, or rather, anyone who might not necessarily have to worry about cybersecurity on a business level. You are asked to make a new password for all of your accounts once a month, and you dread having to use the multi-factor authentication tool just to get logged in to do your job. Furthermore, you have mandatory cybersecurity training scheduled for when you had intended to catch up on your important tasks.

Sound like a lot? That’s kind of the point here; people will always be the weakest link in your cybersecurity infrastructure, and all of the policies and procedures outlined above are only effective if your team has the mental bandwidth to adhere to them.

Constantly being asked to do the same thing, over and over, particularly where cybersecurity is concerned, has led employees to finding more streamlined ways to approach their own personal cybersecurity policies, just to keep up with organizational expectations. In other words, they cut corners by using the same passwords over and over again, or they use the same password and change the number at the end.

There are other aspects of security fatigue, but suffice to say that it’s when the business places so much emphasis on security and safeguards that its employees lose interest in maintaining them, resulting in less security as a whole.

What Are the Symptoms of Security Fatigue?

Cybersecurity fatigue can come with a variety of symptoms that can tell you whether or not your business is at risk. Here are some of them:

• Have you or your team members grown more lax with your password practices?
• Are you or your team members prone to connect to insecure networks without the added protection of a virtual private network, even when accessing sensitive accounts and data?
• Do you and your team keep an eye out for signs of phishing, or are most messages taken at face value?
• Are work devices commonly used for personal activity?
• Is IT kept apprised of incidents and issues promptly, or are such things only reported when the circumstances are severe?
• Do you or your team members frequently use workarounds to bypass your security?
• Are work devices kept appropriately up-to-date, or have updates been somewhat neglected?

Do these sound familiar? Chances are you’re dealing with security fatigue.

How to Cure Security Fatigue

There are ways you can take action against security fatigue, and they aren’t terribly complicated. The biggest thing to keep in mind regarding these measures, however, is that you cannot compromise your business’ security in the process. You can, however, take a lot of stress off your team’s shoulders by automatically handling a lot of processes, like patching and updates, remote management, password management, and so on, all to help productivity while maintaining security.

First Column IT can help your business work toward a healthy cybersecurity culture. To learn more, call us today at (571) 470-5594.

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