Report by Cisco
2025 Cisco Cybersecurity Readiness Index
Key Findings
96% of organizations plan to upgrade their IT infrastructure.
Over 77% of organizations report that their complex security infrastructures are impeding their ability to respond swiftly and effectively to threats. These infrastructures are often dominated by the deployment of more than ten point security solutions
71% of respondents anticipate business disruptions from cyber incidents within the next 12 to 24 months.
85% of organizations use AI for threat detection.
86% of organizations continue to face the challenge of a shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals. More than half of these organizations report having more than ten positions to fill.
84% of organizations face increased security risks as employees access networks from unmanaged devices within hybrid work models.
86% of organizations have experienced AI-related security incidents in the last year.
Only 4% of organizations worldwide have achieved a 'Mature' level of cybersecurity readiness. This is a slight increase from last year's Index, in which 3% of organizations worldwide were designated as Mature.
Only 45% allocate more than 10% of their IT budget to cybersecurity. This allocation is down 8% year-over-year.
Nearly half of organizations (49%) suffered cyberattacks in the last year.
Only 49% of respondents are confident their employees fully understand AI related threats.
22% of employees have unrestricted access to public GenAI.
60% of organizations lack confidence in detecting unregulated AI deployments (shadow AI).
60% of IT teams are unaware of employee interactions with GenAI.
70% of organizations use AI for response and recovery.
89% of organizations use AI to understand threats better.
58% of respondents view external threats (like malicious actors and state-affiliated groups) as more significant than internal threats (42%).
51% of employees are using approved third-party GenAI tools.
Only 48% believe their teams fully grasp how malicious actors are using AI to execute sophisticated attacks.