Report by Trellix
The Mind of the CISO. The New Insider: Rethinking Risk in the AI Era
Key Findings
74% of CISOs agree the use of AI tools introduces risks traditional security controls are not designed to address.
95% of CISOs experienced an insider incident linked to the actions of an AI or autonomous system in the past 12 months.
AI actions account for 28% of all insider-related incidents on average.
99% of CISOs agree AI and automation will be essential to managing insider risk over the next 12 to 24 months.
41% of CISOs plan to prioritize investment in AI-related detection and response.
91% of CISOs agree their accountability for insider risk has grown over the past 12 months.
56% of organizations report data loss as a consequence of insider risk incidents.
49% of organizations report operational disruption or downtime caused by insider risk incidents.
48% of organizations report compliance or legal violations resulting from insider risk incidents.
79% of CISOs expect to be targeted by an AI-assisted attack exploiting trusted identities or systems within the next 12 months.
78% of organizations include AI agents, autonomous systems, and machine identities in their definition of insider risk.
42% of organizations report AI agents and machine identities as the most important security risk to address over the next 12–24 months.
52% of organizations lack a fully implemented insider risk strategy.
94% of CISOs are concerned about the risk of actions taken by AI within their security environments.
63% of CISOs say their organization lacks sufficient visibility into how employees use AI tools.
99% of CISOs agree they need to improve visibility across users, devices, and environments.
On average, organizations take 15 hours to detect and respond to insider-related incidents.
74% of CISOs report senior leadership and the board lack a clear understanding of insider risk.
62% of CISOs agree their organization is not fully prepared to manage the risks associated with AI and autonomous tools.
68% of CISOs report existing policies do not adequately address AI-related risks.
78% of CISOs agree traditional security controls are becoming less effective against AI-accelerated attacks.
46% of organizations report reputational damage or loss of customer trust from insider risk incidents.
83% of CISOs agree AI is accelerating attackers' ability to discover and exploit vulnerabilities.
AI accounts for nearly one-third of all insider incidents.
Insider risk incidents cost organizations $2.4 million on average.