New Report Finds Major Security Gaps

A new report reveals many CISOs feel their organizations are unprepared for cyberattacks and that company data is not adequately protected.

A new report from Proofpoint highlights significant concerns among cybersecurity leaders regarding their organizations' defensive capabilities. The 2025 Voice of the CISO Report surveyed Chief Information Security Officers and found a widespread lack of confidence. According to the findings, one-third of CISOs believe their organization's data is not adequately protected. Furthermore, a majority of respondents—58%—admitted their organizations were unprepared to effectively respond to a cyberattack. This sentiment underscores a gap between the known threat landscape and the current state of security readiness within many companies.

These statistics are a critical signal for technology and business leaders, indicating that common security strategies may have fundamental weaknesses. The high percentage of CISOs feeling unprepared suggests that incident response plans, security tooling, and team training might not be sufficient to handle modern threats. For founders, CTOs, and IT teams, these findings serve as a prompt to re-evaluate their own security posture against these industry benchmarks. The report implies that simply having security measures in place is not enough; leaders must also address the underlying issues that contribute to this lack of confidence.

The report's findings indicate a widespread lack of confidence among security leaders, suggesting that many companies have critical gaps in their data protection and incident response capabilities, posing significant business risks.

The identified security gaps and lack of preparedness can lead to severe consequences, including data breaches, financial loss, operational downtime, and reputational damage. The report serves as a warning for boards and executives to prioritize and invest in strengthening their cybersecurity posture.