Companies look to GenAI to bolster cyber resilience
As companies contend with cyber security concerns, almost four-fifths (78%) of leaders surveyed have ramped up their investment in GenAI over the last 12 months, with 72% increasing their risk management investment in AI governance. This comes as two-thirds (67%) of security leaders note GenAI has expanded the cyber-attack surface over the last year, ahead of other technologies such as cloud technology (66%), connected products (58%), operational technology (54%) and quantum computing (42%). But while leveraging GenAI remains key to cyber resilience strategies, organisations face several challenges when incorporating the technology, notably with existing systems/processes (39%) and a lack of standardised internal policies governing its use (37%).
The cyber security resilience imperative
Despite the clear threats and a lack of preparedness, the survey findings highlight organisations are nevertheless taking action. More than three-quarters (77%) expect their cyber budget to increase over the coming year, with nearly half (48%) of business leaders prioritising data protection and data trust as the top cyber investment over the next year. Tech leaders, on the other hand, note cloud security (34%) remains their top-priority. Almost one-third (30%) of organisations expect cyber budgets to increase by 6-10% next year, while one-fifth (20%) expect budgets to increase by 11% or more.
There is also a clear cyber security imperative. Organisations cite investment in cybersecurity as a key differentiator for competitive advantage, with 57% citing customer trust and 49% citing brand integrity and loyalty as primary drivers for such investment. In the backdrop, cyber regulations are also driving investment – with 96% reporting such regulations to have increased their cyber investment in the last 12 months.