Agentic AI in the SOC: Reducing Alert Fatigue and Burnout

Security Operations Centers (SOCs) are the nerve centers of an organization’s cybersecurity posture. They are tasked with monitoring and defending against threats, keeping the business operational and adversaries out. However, one of the largest threats to SOCs is an internal crisis: alert fatigue, burnout, and high attrition rates. The relentless influx of noisy alerts, the pressure to respond swiftly, and the manual, repetitive nature of tasks have created an environment where exhaustion and endless alert management is prevalent.

A study by Tines revealed that 71% of SOC analysts experience burnout, with 64% considering leaving their job within a year. Within their study, Tines identified multiple factors contributing to overworked security teams that require a fix today. Not only does this jeopardize the security infrastructures of many organizations, but also the people working in these tiresome positions.

Facing the burnout and alert fatigue

The daily life of a SOC analyst is inundated with a staggering number of security alerts. Some industry reports have found that SOCs can receive an average of 10,000 alerts per day, leading to alert fatigue. This constant barrage of alerts makes it difficult to distinguish between true and false positives. 

Furthermore, the manual nature of many tasks only exacerbates the problem. The aforementioned Tines report found that 64% of analysts spend over half their time on tedious manual work, such as reporting and monitoring. This not only reduces job satisfaction, but can increase the likelihood of errors and cause attrition that ruins institutional knowledge.

The consequences are dire. A 2023 report from Devo found that 83% of IT security professionals admit that burnout has led to errors resulting in security breaches. Furthermore, 85% of respondents reported wanting to leave their roles, with 24% of that group wanting to exit cybersecurity entirely. Simply put - alert volumes or technical inadequacies should not be the leading causes of position change or security breaches.

Why traditional solutions don’t work

In response to these challenges, organizations have tried a myriad of approaches. Some don’t scale, whereas others don’t offer the right coverage. Strategies have included:

• Hiring more staff - Increasing headcount seems like a logical answer, but is infeasible and doesn’t scale. Organizations cannot continue to simply “just hire” - there is a definite shortage of workers with the necessary skill sets to create a lasting security impact.
• Tool consolidation - Reducing the number of security tools seems like another simple solution. While this can decrease complexity or tool sprawl, it doesn’t address the root cause of alert fatigue and manual workload. Furthermore, tool reduction may lead to visibility gaps or over-reliance on one tool set or platform.
• Outsourcing security - Managed Services, such as those offered by an MDR or MSSP, can alleviate some pressure on internal security teams. However, this can result in reduced visibility or lack of control over security operations. Moreover, this merely shifts the risk of attrition rather than solving the issue.

Solving the problem(s) with Agentic AI

If traditional solutions don’t work, and we simply cannot “hire more bodies”, Agentic AI technologies offer a path forward where other solutions have fallen short. It’s important to note that integrating AI into SOC operations is not just a technological upgrade; it’s a business necessity. The financial implications of analyst turnover are significant, considering the additional costs associated with recruiting and training new staff.

Agentic AI offers a transformative solution to SOC challenges. Automating repetitive tasks and enhancing threat detection are table stakes. True value lies in lowering the burden to analysts, and prioritizing attention. 

At Prophet Security, we recognize the need to support SOC analysts. Prophet AI is an Agentic AI SOC Analyst that:

• Automates L1 and L2 alert triage and investigations - Prophet AI automatically examines alerts and adds key context, prioritizing the “What” for SOC teams without compromising the “Why”. It emulates the investigative process of Tier-1 and Tier-2 analysts, accelerating investigations while preserving the depth and accuracy of the investigations. Unlike AI-powered security copilots, Agentic AI SOC Analysts act autonomously, gathering and correlating data, making investigative decisions, and surfacing conclusions without requiring constant human input.
• Eliminates manual, tedious, and repetitive tasks - SOC analysts often find themselves trapped in an endless cycle of context switching or jumping between different security tools, gathering data from multiple sources, and manually correlating information just to determine if an alert is worth investigating. Prophet AI removes these inefficiencies by automating data gathering, enrichment, and correlation, ensuring that analysts no longer waste their time on low-value, repetitive work. This significantly reduces cognitive overload, one of the biggest drivers of burnout in SOCs.
• Provides 24/7 coverage - Security incidents don’t wait for business hours, and neither does Prophet AI. Unlike traditional SOCs that rely on costly outsourcing or force analysts into exhausting on-call rotations, Prophet AI operates around the clock, investigating and resolving alerts in real time. This ensures continuous protection without requiring analysts to sacrifice work-life balance, ultimately reducing attrition and improving job satisfaction.
• Proactively reduces false positives - SOC teams don’t need more alerts, they need better ones. Prophet AI autonomously applies deeper context to every alert at machine speed, quickly identifying benign alerts and resolving them with minimal analyst intervention. This reduces time wasted on noisy, low-value alerts while maintaining full investigative accuracy.
• Enriches incident data for faster decision-making - Prophet AI assembles a full investigative picture before an analyst even touches an alert, allowing them to validate threats faster and make informed decisions without tool fatigue.
• Continuously improves through adaptive learning - Prophet AI is constantly learning from new data and analyst feedback, enhancing triage and investigation accuracy over time. Like an experienced analyst, it gets better the longer it’s in use—adapting to your environment, identifying patterns faster, and making more precise decisions. This means your investment in AI delivers increasing value, with fewer escalations, better prioritization, and a continuously improving SOC workflow.

Our goal is not to replace SOC analysts; it is to equip them with the right tools and empower them to make decisions faster. Prophet Security offers customers Increased satisfaction and more time available for the investigations that matter. Analysts aren’t bogged down with tedious work; rather, they can make quick decisions that allow security to move forward without sacrificing time or analysts.

To see how Prophet AI can help your team beat back alert fatigue, analyst burnout, and SOC attrition, request a demo today!

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