Cybersecurity Alert Fatigue

Cybersecurity Alert Fatigue

What It Is, Why It's a Problem, and the Challenge of Combating it

Cyber attacks grow more relentless and sophisticated each year. To defend themselves against threats, organisations typically turn to additional tools for strengthening their security programmes and protecting their attack surface.

While tools can enhance protection and visibility, they also, in turn, generate a massive volume of events and alerts. And therein lies the problem.

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When faced with a deluge of potential attacks, security analysts can quickly become overwhelmed. In fact, many attacks succeed not because a tool failed to raise an alert, but because the alert was missed or ignored by an analyst.

What is Alert Fatigue?

When analysts receive an overwhelming number of alerts from cybersecurity tools and are tasked with spending time reviewing and responding to each one, it can create an environment where it is impossible to distinguish important alerts from the unimportant ones.

Common tools that can trigger additional alerts and contribute to alert fatigue include: but are not limited to

Firewall Icon

Firewalls

Endpoint Security

Endpoint Security

Cloud Security Icon

Cloud Security

This operating environment of all noise and no signal is known as “cybersecurity alert fatigue,” and it has real costs for the professionals and businesses impacted by it.

Alert Fatigue

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A state experienced by security professionals exposed to a high volume of alerts in a brief period, resulting in decreased effectiveness and detection of legitimate threats.

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