The economic climate is putting cybersecurity teams under increasing pressure. Our research shows that security leaders would need to find a 40% budget increase to restore confidence in their security posture.

At the same time, the industry is grappling with a persistent shortage of skilled professionals, with the current supply-to-demand ratio in the U.S. standing at 69%. This means that less than seven out of 10 cybersecurity jobs can be filled with the available workforce.

It’s unsurprising that a lack of security skills and budget – both for training as well as general cybersecurity – are key concerns among CISOs and security leaders. A staggering 74% of cybersecurity professionals feel that the shortage of security resources negatively impacts their ability to effectively manage security posture.

A digital transformation in the cybersecurity industry is needed to address these challenges. By embracing automation and vendor consolidation, organizations can lighten the burden on the security workforce, improve proactive security posture management and create a more efficient security program.

Tackling the ‘People Problem’

Despite 52% of security professionals stating they would hire more security specialists if they were given a budget increase, simply increasing headcount is not a foolproof solution. The scarcity of skilled people creates a vicious circle within the security industry, spiraling wages as organizations compete for finite resources, overworked individuals who are forced to cover multiple positions, and high stress levels that often lead professionals to leave the profession altogether.

A more strategic approach is crucial to break free from this detrimental cycle. By leveraging automation for the more laborious tasks and processes, security leaders can not only alleviate the burden on their overworked teams but also move away from the endless cycle of reactive firefighting.

This shift allows for a proactive security posture management model, where resources are optimized, risks are mitigated, and the overall resilience of the organization is strengthened. Cybersecurity professionals can focus on more strategic and high-value tasks, such as incident response, patching vulnerabilities and working towards improving security posture, by focusing on meeting strategic priorities rather than getting caught up in manual processes or firefighting.

Automation for Compliance

Whether intentionally or not, regulators are catalyzing change in the cybersecurity industry. The EU’s Digital Operational Resilience Act (DORA) mandates continuous monitoring of ICT security, which can only realistically be achieved through automation.

By embracing automated controls monitoring, security teams will be able to comply with incoming regulations and adapt to changing guidance and frameworks. This will not only improve efficiency but also enhance overall security posture.

Automation can also help with another requirement of incoming regulation — board oversight of security risk. In both the U.S. and the E.U., new legislation will elevate accountability for cybersecurity to the boardroom.

This will inevitably bring greater pressure on security teams to provide accurate metrics and measures that give a true picture of their organization’s security posture. Automation will be needed to build confidence in this data while also ensuring the reporting burden doesn’t further overwhelm security teams.

Confidence in Consolidating

Gartner reported that 75% of organizations were pursuing security vendor consolidation in 2022. Yet consolidation can bring its own set of challenges. Security leaders may be apprehensive about losing certain controls and, therefore, risking their security posture during the consolidation process.

We found that only 19% of those who haven’t started the process of vendor consolidation expect it would improve their security posture. But, in reality, consolidation benefits an organization’s security posture – 42% who have begun this journey are now seeing a measurable improvement.

This is because cybersecurity professionals often find themselves burdened with conflicting data from a whole host of tools, hindering their ability to respond effectively to threats. The reality is that implementing more security tools does not mean improving your security posture. Instead, it compounds the complexity of taking a proactive approach and can be a drain on already limited budgets.

Consolidation, when approached strategically, can streamline security operations. By selecting vendors that offer comprehensive solutions and integrating disparate tools and platforms into a unified ecosystem with clear reporting, companies can simplify their security infrastructure and enhance collaboration among different teams.

The Value of Doing More With Less

The cybersecurity landscape comes with unique challenges, from the shortage of skilled professionals to the increasing complexity of threats. While the transition to automation and vendor consolidation may initially be challenging, enterprises need to recognize the long-term benefits of these strategies.

By scaling back the number of security vendors and implementing process automation, security teams can be freed up from their current levels of overwhelming reporting and admin. They can then focus their efforts on more valuable tasks and proactively mitigate their risk exposure.