Organisational Friction Hampers Cyber Defences

Cybersecurity is facing a new challenge: organisational friction. A recent Cisco report found that internal issues are hindering companies' ability to respond to AI-driven threats.

The Relentless Defense report surveyed 8,000 security professionals across 30 markets and revealed that 27% of respondents were CISOs while 60% had spent six or more years at their current organisation.

The study found that 91% of security leaders experienced a material disruptive cyber incident in the past year, with 35% saying an AI-related attack was involved. The average overall score for organisational friction was 42 out of 100, nearly half of the maximum score.

Cisco's top-performing group, dubbed 'Relentless Defenders', consisted of only 8% of organisations and had stronger security coverage, faster response capabilities and greater alignment between security, networking and IT teams.