Cisco Report Reveals Gaps in Cybersecurity Defense Across Organizations

A new report from Cisco finds that organizations struggling to defend against cyber threats often rely on a single strength, rather than combining broad coverage, fast response, and a coordinated team effort. The Relentless Defense Report scores organizations on their ability to protect their environment, detect and respond to threats, and remediate them quickly.

The global average score is 64 out of 100, while in India it stands at 66. Only 8% of organizations worldwide are classified as 'Relentless Defenders', a group that combines broad coverage, fast response, and a coordinated team effort without operational bottlenecks.

Organizational friction is identified as a key barrier to stronger cyber defense, with security teams unable to act alone due to ownership, approvals, and silos across IT, procurement, and executive leadership. This leads to unclear decision rights, fragmented data, and increased complexity in deploying and governing AI.