During this Cyber Security Awareness Month 2020, cybersecurity has never been more at the forefront of the tech industry. With the pandemic forcing people to work from home, many businesses were left vulnerable and had to find quick solutions. However, people working in cybersecurity also have fears of their own.

Indeed, a new survey by Exabeam revealed that 53% of young cybersecurity professionals are worried that technology will make their roles obsolete and that, in the long run, they will be replaced by automation.

The research showed that, despite myths surrounding new technologies and young people, younger than older cybersecurity professionals will find using tech in the workplace stressful. Indeed, people under 45 seem to agree that artificial intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) are a threat to their job security. Overall, there were 47% of US respondents, 54% from Singapore, 42% of Germans, 40% of Australians, and 33% from the UK who reported fearing automation taking over while in Exabeam’s 2019 survey, only 10% saw AI and automation as a threat.

The worry around automation might be due to a lack of on-the-job training using automation technology or even the ambiguity around career path or lack of understanding about automation. It could also be a result of the current situation in the world.

The findings of this research revealed that most cybersecurity professionals remain satisfied in their jobs with 96%, satisfied with their duties, and 87% with salary, and 77% with their work/life balance. It also showed that gender diversity continues to increase, with female respondents going from 9% in 2019 to 21% this year.

With AI and ML are being more and more embraced by the tech industry, it is surprising to find such generational gaps in professional’s openness to all available tools.