VikingCloud, the leading Predict-to-Prevent cybersecurity and compliance company, has officially published the results from a new research report, which reveals that nearly 80% of cybersecurity leaders are concerned or extremely concerned that their organization could be targeted, directly or indirectly, by a nation-state cyberattack in the next 12 months.
According to certain reports, the stated report further expands upon the opinion of, 76% respondents who believe that recent or proposed cuts to U.S. federal cybersecurity programs, such as the CISA and the NSA, can very well increase their organization’s risk exposure.
This particular piece of data can be further contextualized once you consider cybersecurity leaders across the board report that both the frequency (71%) and severity (61%) of cyberattacks have increased in the past year. You see, nearly 6 in every respondents 10 respondents (59%) said their companies suffered at least one successful attack during the given timeframe.
As for the primary reasons behind the same, 58% of those targeted suspect attackers were found to use AI.
Talk about the given report on a slightly deeper level, we begin from how teams were deemed as largely unable when it comes to keeping pace with AI-driven attacks. This conclusion was reached upon after 68% of companies said they are only moderately or somewhat confident in their organization’s ability to detect and defend against AI-driven cyber threats.
All in all, the report showcased a 6X increase year-over-year (YoY) in organizations that reported they are unprepared for deepfake attacks.
Next up, VikingCloud spotted growing concerns, regarding AI, across the organizations’ top brass. As a result, generative or agentic AI-driven phishing attacks (51%) are now leadership teams’ top concern in terms of new attack techniques, marking a staggering 132% increase YoY.
Another detail worth a mention is rooted in 36% of cybersecurity leaders saying that over a quarter of their team’s cybersecurity incidents in the past year were caused by insiders, either accidental or malicious.
An estimated 48% of cybersecurity leaders also didn’t report a material cybersecurity incident to their executive leadership or board of directors in the past year. 86% of these companies, in fact, failed to report multiple breaches. As for why they did so, leading reasons cited were worry over punitive rather than constructive responses from leadership and the board (40%), and fear of financial or reputational harm if the incident were made public or resulted in regulatory consequences (44%)
Against this steep rise in risks, a promising 51% of cybersecurity leaders revealed they’ve increased general security and awareness training in the past year, revealing a 46% increase compared to those who said they were doing this in 2024. Furthermore, 43% of respondents would go on to provide training on both generative AI and agentic AI cybersecurity risks, whereas on other hand, 40% would provide training on either generative AI or agentic AI.
Around 33% have also allocated enhanced budget to their cyber programs, nearly 5X as many as those who did so last year.
Among other things, it ought to be acknowledged that most (96%) organizations also report using AI to automate routine tasks and save their cyber teams meaningful time. This time is markedly being rerouted to more pressing matters, such as advanced threat hunting (44%), upskilling in advanced cyber domains (43%), prioritizing strategic risk management and compliance initiatives (36%), and other efforts that may help teams stay ahead of the evolving threat landscape.
Founded in 2019, VikingCloud’s rise up the ranks stems from providing businesses a single, integrated solution, empowering them to make informed, predictive, and cost-effective risk mitigation decisions. The company’s excellence in what it does can also be understood once you consider is currently trusted by more than 4+ million businesses in 70+ countries.
“Cyberattacks aren’t just becoming more frequent, but more costly, more advanced, and harder to spot and defend against,” said Kevin Pierce, President and Chief Operating Officer at VikingCloud. “AI is constantly opening new avenues for hackers, while geopolitical volatility is creating a ripe environment for rising attacks. Organizations face urgent pressure to strengthen defenses—from skills and staffing to tools and training—or risk being outpaced on every front. Many cybersecurity teams have moved beyond simply bracing for impact,” said Pierce. “They’re taking a proactive stance, and that shift will define the next phase of cyber resilience.”
