Article updated on 13/05/26
There’s currently a 3.4 million global shortage of cybersecurity professionals, a number that’s only growing as the years and days go on. Add in Gartner’s claim that about half of the current leaders in cybersecurity will change jobs due to work stressors and you’ve got an industry that, from an outsider’s perspective, is in utter disarray. This is especially concerning when even well-known remote access tools are routinely falling victim to data breaches with attackers exploiting these platforms to encrypt files using password-protected ransomware payloads.
And remote access tools aren’t the only targets falling victim to these breaches. Hackers stole information on all users in Okta’s customer service support system in October 2023. A cyberattack exposed Air Europa’s customers credit card details in September 2023. Over half of Verizon Communications’ workforce (63,000 people) had sensitive information exposed in a data breach in February 2024.
Something must change. But what? This article will explore the current state of cybersecurity, why the field matters to businesses, and how automation of IT tasks can help fill the talent gap.
Why businesses can’t overlook cybersecurity
Because the cost of getting it wrong keeps rising, and the attack surface keeps expanding. Every connected system, cloud application, and remote endpoint introduces potential exposure. Operating in a technologically forward world means your business faces some form of cyber threat at every moment. To keep your business safe, you need protective measures that both prevent and mitigate the risks associated with any potential cyber-attack.
That means your people, processes, and technology must all complement one another to create an effective defense. Security measures are needed to protect your customers and your data. These systems and processes can be automated to a point, but they still require human oversight and management. Whether handled by an internal team or outsourced, the demand for cybersecurity talent continues to grow.
The current state of the cybersecurity industry
What factors are in play that make cybersecurity such a looming and under-addressed problem today? The answer isn’t simple, because it’s not one thing. Emerging technologies, while offering tremendous advantages, also present new opportunities for threat actors to launch increasingly sophisticated attacks.
Technology evolved faster than the workforce pipeline could keep up. Training and education programs didn’t receive serious investment until the need was already dire. And while these roles now offer strong compensation and career growth, the perception gap persists.
The result is a compounding problem: not enough skilled professionals, not enough investment in developing new ones, and a threat landscape that won’t wait for either to catch up.
However, there is still hope for improving the current state of cybersecurity and building a brighter, less stressed future for those in the industry. The fact of the matter is the field of cybersecurity isn’t going anywhere. There are thousands, if not millions, of jobs positions sitting vacant, waiting to be filled (top ones include: Penetration & Vulnerability Tester, Network Engineer, Security Architect, Cybersecurity Specialist, and Systems Administrator).
The biggest issue at hand isn’t that there’s a lack of talent. It’s that cybersecurity professionals are well past their limits in terms of work capacity, they’re burnt out. To retain the professionals already in the field and attract new ones, organizations need a way to reduce the operational burden.
That’s where automation becomes essential. By streamlining repetitive tasks and applying artificial intelligence to IT operations, organizations can multiply the capacity of the teams they already have.
7 areas for automation in cybersecurity
For cybersecurity, automation is a force multiplier. It enables organizations to defend against and adapt to incoming threats faster, strengthening their ability to mitigate risks in real-time. This makes organizations more resilient and adaptive in the digital age.
It also enables teams to manage the high volume of cyber threats and security testing that organizations face every day. For larger enterprises especially, it would be impossible for humans alone to keep pace with the workload. But automation doesn’t replace the need for people, processes, and technology working together, it amplifies what that combination can achieve.
Last year (2023), the IDC predicted that by, “2026, 20% of large enterprise organizations will migrate to autonomous security operations centers (SOC) accessed by distributed teams for faster remediation, incident management, and response” – with India leading the charge for the location of the data centers.
Below are the 7 most important impacts IT automation has on the field of cybersecurity:
1. Real-Time Threat Detection
Automation tools can continuously monitor network traffic and user behavior to identify any anomalies (read: find anything that points to a potential security threat). Additionally, with automated response mechanisms in place, organizations minimize the time between the detection and mitigation of threats, reducing the window of opportunity for attackers.
2. Anomaly Detection
Machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies can learn the patterns of user behavior, system interactions, and network traffic to flag any deviations from the norm, identifying threats before they get out of hand. Automating these processes and using the large datasets will allow your organization to find subtle indicators of a compromise that would otherwise go unnoticed.
3. Automated Incident Response
Automation streamlines the incident response process by using frameworks to execute predefined actions in response to the security incidents they’re associated with (e.g. isolating affected systems and blocking malicious IP addresses) to accelerate the mitigation and keep communication consistent and coordinated (very important).
4. Patch Management & Vulnerability Remediation
Automation enhances the efficiency of patch management and vulnerability remediation processes, reducing the amount of cyberattacks that exploit vulnerabilities in software and systems. Automation tools will prioritize IT infrastructure vulnerabilities based on risk and can then deploy patches quickly and efficiently, minimizing the likelihood of exploitation.
5. Security Orchestration
Effective cybersecurity response depends on coordination that happens well before an incident occurs. Security orchestration uses automation to integrate across products and accelerate key security operations functions: detection, investigation, and remediation. Instead of managing a jumble of disconnected tools, orchestration enables a cohesive, collaborative approach.
When information flows seamlessly between systems, your organization gains a more comprehensive view of the threat landscape, promoting faster, more informed decision-making.
6. Access Control
User authentication processes (e.g. multi-factor or 2FA) can be enhanced with automation thanks to contextual factors such as user behavior and device attributes. These automated processes will then enforce stronger access controls and reduce the risk of unauthorized system access.
7. Security Awareness Training and Simulation
Human error remains a significant factor in cybersecurity incidents. Automation can play a role in security awareness training by delivering targeted and personalized training modules to employees. Additionally, automated simulation exercises can mimic real-world cyber threats, providing employees with practical experience in identifying and responding to potential security risks. This proactive approach helps in building a security-conscious culture within the organization.
As your company assesses your IT budget and future objectives, investing in automation for your cybersecurity and support processes shouldn’t be a nice-to-have. It should be a requirement. IT automation frees up your current employees to work on higher-level tasks, minimizes the time between threat detection and mitigation, and reduces human error which is still the leading cause of cyber incidents.
But automation works best when it’s built on a layered, structured foundation. The organizations that get the most out of cybersecurity automation are those that have already invested in process discipline, data quality, and governed workflows. This is where many organizations reassess their operational maturity and where the real returns begin.
Frequently Asked Questions
#1 What is the cybersecurity skills gap?
The cybersecurity skills gap refers to the widening difference between the number of open security roles and the number of qualified professionals available to fill them. Today, there are roughly 3.4 million unfilled cybersecurity positions worldwide. Demand is growing faster than training programs can produce skilled workers and burnout is pushing experienced professionals out of the field faster than new ones can enter it.
For businesses, this gap isn’t just an HR problem. It’s a direct operational risk. Every unfilled role is a window of exposure. Every overloaded analyst is a delayed response. Understanding the gap is the first step toward addressing it – whether through hiring, outsourcing, or strategic use of automation.
#2 What does cybersecurity protect against?
Cybersecurity protects systems, networks, and data from digital attacks. These attacks typically aim to steal sensitive information, disrupt business operations, or extort organizations through ransomware. In practice, that means defending against unauthorized access, phishing, malware, and data breaches – threats that carry serious financial and reputational consequences.
Protection isn’t a single tool or policy. It requires layered defenses: strong access controls, continuous monitoring, rapid incident response, and regular patching. As attack methods grow more sophisticated, organizations increasingly rely on automation to keep pace, especially when skilled human resources are already stretched thin.
#3 Is cybersecurity hard to learn?
Cybersecurity is technically demanding. It requires knowledge of networking, threat analysis, coding, and system architecture. Those skills must be constantly updated as threats evolve. This difficulty is one of the core reasons the skills gap persists. Training a capable cybersecurity professional takes years, and the threat landscape doesn’t wait. This is also why burnout is so common in the field. Professionals are expected to maintain deep expertise while managing an ever-growing volume of alerts, incidents, and vulnerabilities.
Automation is increasingly being used to absorb that workload, handling repetitive, high-volume tasks so skilled analysts can focus on the decisions that require real human judgment. It won’t replace expertise, but it can make existing expertise go significantly further.
#4 How does IT automation help close the cybersecurity skills gap?
IT automation helps organizations do more with the security talent they already have. By handling repetitive, high-volume tasks – like continuous threat monitoring, patch deployment, anomaly detection, and incident response – automation reduces the manual workload on security teams without reducing coverage. The result is consistent protection, even when headcount is limited. Automation also directly addresses one of the leading causes of security incidents: human error.
When routine processes run on predefined, tested logic rather than individual judgment under pressure, mistakes decrease. For organizations carrying open roles or managing burnout in their security teams, automation functions as a force multiplier – extending capacity, compressing response times, and making existing expertise go further. It doesn’t replace skilled professionals. It makes sure those professionals are working on problems that actually require them.
