Most security professionals (77%) express some level of comfort with deploying agentic systems and allowing them to act without human review.
SALT LAKE CITY, Feb. 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Ivanti, a global enterprise IT and security software company, announced the findings of its 2026 State of Cybersecurity Report: Bridging the Divide. Drawing on insights from more than 1,200 cybersecurity professionals worldwide, the report reveals a rapidly widening divide between escalating cyberthreats and organizations’ ability to defend against them.
AI is reshaping cybersecurity for both defenders and attackers, but defenders believe they are gaining the edge. The report finds that security professionals are 2.4x more likely to believe defenders use AI as effectively as threat actors, if not more effectively. Additionally, that confidence level grows to 5.5x in favor of defenders using AI as effectively or more effectively than threat actors over the next 24 months.
However, to effectively gain their edge, defenders must operationalize AI and automation in cybersecurity, but that remains limited. Although nearly all respondents (92%) say automation reduces their team’s mean time to respond, the use of AI across critical security functions varies: 53% of security teams utilize AI for cloud security policy enforcement, 44% employ it for incident response workflows, 43% for threat intelligence correlation, and just 42% for vulnerability response and remediation.
Organizations are actively exploring how best to utilize these technologies, yet there remains a degree of caution. Agentic AI—autonomous systems capable of making real-time decisions and acting independently—has not yet earned universal trust. Nonetheless, 87% of security professionals say integrating agentic AI is a priority for their teams, and 77% report at least some comfort with allowing autonomous AI systems to act without human oversight. This marks a growing, albeit cautious, trust in automated cybersecurity defenses and signals a shift toward greater acceptance of agentic AI solutions, even as challenges persist.
“Although defenders are optimistic about the promise of AI in cybersecurity, Ivanti’s findings also show companies are falling further behind in terms of how well prepared they are to defend against a variety of threats. This is what I call the ‘Cybersecurity Readiness Deficit’ — a persistent, year-over-year widening imbalance in an organizations’ ability to defend their data, people and networks against the evolving threat landscape. This challenge is intensified by the accelerating pace of technological change, particularly as organizations advance their SaaS transformation initiatives and the speed at which new technologies are adopted,” said Daniel Spicer, Chief Security Officer at Ivanti. “Security leaders understand that time and people are their most valuable assets. Currently, AI tools are effective at automatically handling cyber hygiene tasks that can bog down IT teams and helping close some of the most common gaps in an organizations’ defense.”
Ivanti’s research identifies several key findings:
- There’s a growing IT–security rift as teams clash over cyber risk priorities:
- Nearly half (48%) of security professionals say IT teams do not respond urgently to cybersecurity concerns, while 40% believe IT lacks an understanding of their organization’s risk tolerance. This disconnect is particularly damaging for exposure management, which relies on collaboration between security and IT to connect technical exposure to business expectations.
- Most organizations take a fragmented approach to tracking cybersecurity metrics:
- The most commonly used measures fail to reflect risk context. Just 60% of security professionals use business impact analysis to inform their risk prioritization. In fact, only half of companies (51%) use a cybersecurity exposure score or risk-based index, while many still rely on process metrics such as mean time to remediate (47%) or percentage of exposures remediated (41%). These latter metrics, which focus on speed and coverage, can look positive in isolation, but reveal little about whether remediation efforts improve risk posture.
- Majority of companies have already faced deepfake attacks—and employees are the new front line:
- A staggering 77% of organizations have already been targeted by deepfake attacks, with over half (51%) facing sophisticated, personalized phishing emails powered by deepfake technology. Further, 48% say synthetic digital content is a high/critical threat, yet only 27% are very prepared — a 21‑point gap. These threats extend well beyond traditional office roles—executives are equally vulnerable. Just 30% of security professionals are confident that their CEOs could reliably identify a deepfake, underscoring a critical gap in organizational readiness and awareness.
- The workforce stress crisis is the new silent threat:
- Cybersecurity teams face unsustainable stress—creating a second systemic vulnerability: human burnout. Ivanti’s findings reveal 43% of security pros report high stress and 79% say it harms physical/mental health. When companies cannot access the right skills, it has a significant negative effect on human burnout, security preparedness and business outcomes. Lack of skilled talent is the number one barrier to cybersecurity excellence, according to survey respondents.
This stark contrast between the findings underscores both the urgency for better defense strategies and the ongoing struggle organizations face in balancing risk awareness with effective preparation.
For more information about the report, please visit Ivanti’s website.
About Ivanti
Ivanti is a global enterprise IT and security software company dedicated to unlocking human potential by managing, automating and protecting data and systems to empower continuous innovation. With adaptable software solutions tailored to customer needs, Ivanti empowers IT and security teams to enhance operational efficiency, cut costs and proactively mitigate security risks. At the heart of Ivanti’s offerings is the AI-powered Ivanti Neurons platform, which transforms the way IT and security teams operate. By delivering unified, reusable services and tools, the platform helps ensure consistent visibility, scalability, and secure solution implementation, enabling teams to work smarter, not harder. Ivanti follows “Secure by Design” principles to provide software solutions that scale with our customers’ needs to help enable IT and Security to improve operational efficiency while reducing costs and proactively reducing risk. Ivanti fosters an inclusive environment where diverse perspectives are honored and valued, reflecting a commitment to a sustainable future for customers, partners, employees and the planet. Learn more at www.ivanti.com and follow us on social media @GoIvanti.
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