- Cisco examined 8,000 security and business leaders for a new report
- Most companies suffered an AI-driven attack last year
- Filling of cyber security roles appears to be a major challenge
Most companies cannot fill available roles for cybersecurity professionals, leaving huge gaps in their defense that threat players can easily exploit. These are some of the results repeated in the 2025 Cybersecurity Readiness Index, a report recently published by Networking Giants Cisco.
The paper was prepared based on a double -blind survey of 8,000 security for the private sector and business leaders in 30 global markets. In that, Cisco said that nearly nine out of ten (86%) of the respondents identified the lack of qualified cybersecurity -professionals as a “big challenge”. Furthermore, it was said that more than half of the respondents reported to have more than ten vacant positions.
The lack of skilled staff is not a new topic – Techradar Pro has reported on it for years now. Even three years ago, Harvey Nash Group claimed that there is a deficit of 10,000 people a year in Britain’s cybersecurity talent pool, alone. To make it worse, those who remain in the industry are overwhelmed by work and are often burned out, which also results in health problems.
Investment in AI
To solve the problem, Cisco’s new article claims that companies must “invest in AI-driven solutions, simplify security infrastructures and increase AI threat awareness.”
“Prioritization of AI for threat detection, response and recovery is important, just as it is to tackle talent shortages,” the company concluded.
Artificial intelligence seems to be the underlying theme of the whole paper. Cisco said the technology is both “revolutionized security” and “escalating threat levels”, adding that 86% of respondents were facing AI-related security events last year and half (49%) were convinced that their employees are aware of the threat.
Finally, Cisco warned that only 4% of organizations around the world can be considered “mature” when it comes to the level of readiness needed to effectively resist today’s cyber security threats.
“As AI transforms the business, we are dealing with a whole new class of risks in an unprecedented scale – putting even more pressure on our infrastructure and those who defend it,” said Cisco Chief Product Officer Jeetu Patel.
