CISOs Are Managing Risk In Survival Mode
Help Net Security, Monday, December 29th, 2025
CISOs carry expanding responsibility as cybersecurity budgets rise, AI adoption spreads, and board expectations grow. Risk management now depends on faster decisions, stronger coordination, and better communication across leadership teams.
This article shows how CISOs are responding to growing pressure, ongoing threats, and organizational gaps, while trying to turn rising investment into risk reduction and resilience.
CISOs are spending big and still losing ground
Budgets keep rising, cloud programs keep expanding, and AI is reshaping both threats and defenses. Still, CISOs say the fundamentals of risk reduction are not improving fast enough.Organizations continue to increase cybersecurity spending across industries. Even with that growth, respondents say their programs fall short of what the threat landscape now demands.