Survey: CISOs Continue to Struggle to Strike Right Risk Balance

LevelBlue's survey of 422 CISOs reveals that while 61% believe their organizations are highly competent in cybersecurity, many gaps persist: only 45% report alignment between risk appetite and cyber risk management, 53% feel prepared for AI-enabled adversaries, and 37% embed cybersecurity budgets into projects from the start. Top investment priorities include machine learning for pattern matching, data encryption, and application security, whereas the biggest challenges are data security/privacy, storage and loss prevention, fragmentation, cost optimization, and limited software supply chain confidence. The report warns of an accelerating arms race as AI increases attack volume and sophistication, intensifying governance and budgeting pressures on security leaders.