Security professionals are unable to keep pace with cybersecurity threats against companies as external and internal threats mushroom from both known and emerging technologies, according to a Trustwave survey.

The study of more than 1,000 security professionals in the United States, Britain and Canada paints a picture of mounting pressures on organizations due to a shortage of necessary specialist skills, tight budgets and poor employee education.

Emerging threats have changed dramatically from a year ago, as concern over managing security for social media and big data projects have declined sharply only to be replaced by new risks.

Forty-seven percent of security professionals now say the pressure to move their organizations to cloud-based Internet services from in-house computer systems has become their firm’s biggest emerging threat, up from 25 percent a year ago.

The study found 54 percent of respondents believed security staffing levels inside their organizations needed to double in size, and another 24 percent said they needed to quadruple, in order to cope with the range of cybersecurity issues they face.

Businesses face determined, well-funded attackers as their organizations create growing mountains of data that must be defended not only from outside attacks, but inside ones that are smuggled into work by unaware employees who increasingly use their own mobile phones instead of company-controlled devices.

Despite this, one of the strongest complaints voiced in the survey was the pressure to prematurely release new tech projects or applications, despite security concerns. Seventy-seven percent said they were pressured to launch projects too soon.