Report by pwc
New world, new rules: Cybersecurity in an era of uncertainty
Key Findings
For companies with $5 billion or more in revenue, 41% reported a breach costing $1 million or more.
48% of organisations that have experienced a major attack are prioritising managed services to fill critical skills deficiencies (compared to 39% overall).
Roughly half of respondents say their organisation is at best only ‘somewhat capable’ of withstanding cyber attacks targeting specific vulnerabilities.
Only 3% of organisations have implemented all leading quantum-resistant security measures surveyed.
The top internal challenges to achieving post-quantum cryptography include gaps in technical expertise to adopt industry standards (37%) and gaps in dedicated quantum computing knowledge and resources (36%).
33% of business and tech leaders ranked cloud-related threats in their top three threats they are least prepared to address.
78% of business and tech leaders expect their cyber budget to increase over the coming year (a figure virtually unchanged from 77% last year).
Most companies (67%) are spending roughly equal amounts on proactive and reactive cybersecurity measures.
The top three investment priorities when allocating cyber budgets are: Artificial intelligence (AI) (36%), Cloud security (34%), and Network security and zero trust (28%).
39% of business and tech leaders prioritise changes in trade and operating policies in response to the current geopolitical landscape.
AI enablement of key cyber capabilities is the #1 cyber investment priority for security leaders.
Over half (53%) of organisations are prioritising AI and machine learning tools in their top three priorities to help close capability gaps in cyber talent.
28% of business and tech leaders ranked attacks on connected products in their top three threats they are least prepared to address.
Regarding Operational Technology (OT) and Industrial Internet of Things (IIoT) systems, 47% of leaders cite a lack of qualified personnel/skillsets and resources as a top three challenge.
Only 16% of organisations are measuring the potential financial impact of cyber risks (risk quantification) to a significant extent.
The Top 2 challenges to implementing AI for cyber defence are knowledge and skills gaps.
41% of business and tech leaders prioritise changes in critical infrastructure location in response to the current geopolitical landscape.
Only 6% of organisations have fully implemented all data risk measures surveyed across the enterprise.
60% of business and tech leaders prioritise cyber risk investment in response to the current geopolitical landscape.
Only 24% of organisations are spending significantly more on proactive measures (e.g., monitoring, testing, controls) than reactive measures (e.g., incident response, fines, recovery)—which is considered the ideal spend ratio.
Cloud and connected product attacks are the top two cyber threats organisations feel least prepared to address.
AI (38%) and Cloud security (32%) are the top two areas where organisations are prioritising the use of managed services
49% of organisations have not considered or started implementing any quantum-resistant security measures.
Only 8% of security leaders include quantum readiness in their top three budget priorities for the coming year.
39% of business and tech leaders prioritise changes in cyber insurance policies in response to the current geopolitical landscape.
More than a quarter of executives reported that their most damaging data breach in the past three years cost their organisation at least $1 million.
Security leaders rank threat hunting as the #1 AI security capability they plan to bolster over the next 12 months.
Only 6% of organisations feel confident/very capable across all vulnerabilities surveyed, given the current geopolitical landscape.
The top three priority areas for deploying agentic AI solutions are cloud security (39%), data protection (39%), and cyber defence and operations (38%).
Quantum computing now ranks among the Top 4 threats that organisations feel least prepared to address.