CYBERATTACKS

K CISOs’ concerns about the risk of a material cyberattack have increased, while reported material data loss has declined, according to Proofpoint’ s 2026 Voice of the CISO report.

The percentage of UK CISOs who believe their organisation is at risk of a material cyberattack in the next 12 months rose to 74 %, up from 63 % in 2025, while reported material data loss declined from 74 % to 62 %.

The global study of 1,600 CISOs across 16 countries found risk increasingly concentrated in people, data, applications and AI systems embedded in everyday work. Human risk is rising, with 69 % of CISOs identifying it as their organisation’ s biggest cyber vulnerability, up from 60 % in 2025. Meanwhile, 72 % are expected to manage AI-related risks without a proportional increase in resources or expertise over the next two years.

“ AI is fundamentally changing the CISO mandate,” said Patrick Joyce, Global Resident CISO at Proofpoint.“ Security leaders are being asked to do two things at once: protect the business from technology risk and help it embrace transformative technology safely and rapidly.

“ As AI assistants, copilots, automation and public GenAI tools become embedded in everyday business processes, CISOs are relied on to enable innovation while preventing sensitive data, privileged access and critical workflows from being exposed. That dual responsibility is quickly becoming one of the defining challenges of the role.”

Key UK findings include:

AI security concerns increase

UK GenAI security concerns rose 13 percentage points year-over-year, with 71 % of UK CISOs viewing it as a security risk. Meanwhile, 80 % say enabling the safe use of AI assistants, copilots and automation is a top priority over the next two years.

Cyberattack concerns rise despite lower data loss

Expectations of a material cyberattack rose from 63 % in 2025 to 74 % in 2026, while material data loss declined from 74 % to 62 %. However, 61 % of UK CISOs say their organisation is unprepared to cope with a targeted cyberattack. Technologies of concern include SaaS applications and third-party integrations( 33 %), collaboration platforms( 32 %), Active Directory / Identity infrastructure( 32 %) and AI assistants, copilots or autonomous agents( 30 %).

Employee behaviour remains a key risk

Sixty-nine percent of UK CISOs identify human risk as their organisation’ s biggest cyber vulnerability. Among organisations experiencing material data loss, compromised insiders were the leading cause( 48 %). Malicious or criminal insiders were cited by 44 % and careless insiders by 37 %. Ninety-five percent of UK CISOs at affected organisations say departing employees played a role.

The impact of data loss is increasing

Although material data loss declined from 74 % to 62 %, regulatory sanctions rose from 30 % to 35 %, financial losses from 24 % to 40 %, post-attack recovery costs from 26 % to 36 %, and reputational damage from 36 % to 45 %.

Board expectations are increasing

Eighty-seven percent of UK CISOs say they see eye-to-eye with their boards on cybersecurity, up from 57 % in 2025. However, 74 % say excessive expectations are placed on them, while 85 % believe cybersecurity expertise should be required at board-director level, up from 63 % in 2025.

“ Improving resilience is an encouraging sign, but it doesn’ t mean the risk environment is becoming less complex,” said Patrick Joyce.“ Risk is increasingly tied to how people, data, applications and AI interact every day, while CISOs are being asked to manage that exposure in business terms. The findings make clear that continued progress will depend on security strategies evolving alongside where both work and risk are headed.”

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