CISOs Face Unprecedented Burnout Crisis

A new report from Nagomi Security reveals an alarming burnout crisis among Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs), with many stretched to their breaking point by relentless security incidents, overwhelming tool complexity, and escalating boardroom pressures. The study highlights that most cybersecurity leaders are so strained they are actively considering leaving their roles, raising serious concerns about organizational resilience against evolving threats.

The personal toll on CISOs is beginning to directly impact business security readiness. Close to half of those surveyed reported that burnout has already impaired their ability to prepare for potential breaches. Researchers caution that when security leadership reaches this level of exhaustion, the entire company becomes significantly more vulnerable to attacks. The role of the CISO has expanded far beyond simple technology oversight; they are now expected to maintain constant vigilance, manage sprawling security tool portfolios, and provide continuous reassurance to executives and board members about the company’s security posture. With leaner teams and constrained budgets, many leaders say they have almost no opportunity to recover between security events.

For the majority of CISOs, experiencing a major security incident within the last six months has become routine. More than half reported facing personal blame when breaches occur, with many fearing their job security would be jeopardized if a serious incident happened on their watch. This sense of personal accountability is particularly striking given that many breaches occur despite proper defenses being in place. The research found that 58% of CISOs experienced at least one recent incident that a security tool was specifically designed to prevent. This gap between security investments and actual outcomes leaves leaders exposed to reputational damage and career risk for problems often outside their direct control. When every security event carries potential professional consequences, CISOs tend to prioritize immediate survival over long-term strategic planning, creating a destructive cycle of incident response, blame, and eroding trust.

Tool sprawl has emerged as a significant contributor to CISO stress and organizational risk. Many security leaders oversee dozens of specialized security applications, yet critical incidents continue to bypass systems intended to block them. Integration problems represent a frequent complaint, with more than half of respondents indicating their tools lack proper connectivity, forcing security teams to rely on manual workarounds. A similar percentage reported that fewer than half of their security tools demonstrate measurable return on investment. Researchers identify this as a structural issue that introduces unnecessary complexity and security blind spots precisely when teams need streamlined operations and rapid response capabilities.

For many cybersecurity leaders, the most intense pressure originates internally rather than from external threats. Forty-four percent of CISOs identified board and executive expectations as their primary stress source, compared to just 33% who pointed to external threat actors. While most security leaders can quantify technical risk, more than half acknowledge they lack standardized, business-focused metrics that resonate with corporate leadership. Board members typically want to see trendlines demonstrating decreasing risk or metrics connecting security incidents to tangible business outcomes. Without these communication bridges, the dialogue between CISOs and directors often breaks down. This disconnect means security leaders face accountability without having the proper tools to demonstrate progress in terms that boards understand and value.

Emanuel Salmona, CEO of Nagomi Security, observed that “CISOs are managing nonstop risk with limited support and even less time. They’re expected to be strategic leaders and first responders all at once. The best way to support them is to share accountability across the business, make outcomes clearer, and give them the space to focus on what actually reduces risk.”

Artificial intelligence presents both emerging threats and conflicting expectations for security leaders. Agentic AI attacks ranked as the top concern, with 59% of respondents identifying them as the most pressing threat over the coming year. Nearly 20% of recent security incidents already involved AI components, and looking several years ahead, almost half of CISOs anticipate AI-driven attacks will dominate their threat landscape. Simultaneously, many security leaders report pressure to implement AI solutions for cost reduction and task automation, with some operating under formal mandates and others sensing increasing executive expectation. This creates a difficult balancing act where CISOs must defend against sophisticated AI-powered attacks while simultaneously adopting AI to streamline operations and reduce staffing expenses. Researchers describe this as a growing contradiction that forces leaders to reconcile defensive needs with efficiency demands, potentially stretching already thin resources to their absolute limits.

(Source: HelpNet Security)