The position of security engineer has become a pivotal role for modern security teams. These critical practitioners are responsible for testing and screening security software and monitoring networks and systems for threats or intrusions.
Given that Panther was founded by veteran security engineers, we wanted to shed more light on what it is like to be a security engineer and the importance of this role. So, we decided to ask security engineers what it’s like to be a security engineer on a modern security team. With this survey, we looked at why security engineers chose their profession, what they do on a daily basis, what challenges they face, and a host of other aspects of their work lives. Our goal is to share what makes security engineers tick and what, quite frankly, unravels them.
Some of the Key Findings include:
- 80% of engineers feel some level of burnout. Employee burnout should always be a concern for company leadership, and this finding is even more crucial to address given the pivotal role security engineers face in protecting their organizations.
- Satisfaction around tools is low. The complexity and scale of data that security engineers need to analyze has exploded in recent years, putting a strain on the tools they use, and security engineers themselves.
- Many are unsatisfied with their current role. Two-thirds of security engineers claim they plan to leave their current employer within the next 12 months.
- Unhappy with their pay. The largest group of those who plan to leave their current employer will do so because they feel underpaid.
- Scripting is an essential skill. Respondents ranked scripting skills and the ability to write code the highest in importance. This speaks to how security teams are increasingly adopting developer-centric principles.