Only 6% of large companies are confident in their cyber-preparedness

The latest global survey of business and tech executives by PwC reveals that geopolitical uncertainty, alongside rapid technological advances, is fundamentally reshaping the cybersecurity landscape. The 2026 Global Digital Trust Insights report shows that 60% of leaders now rank cyber risk investment as one of their top three strategic priorities in response to a post-globalisation era defined by fractured alliances and disrupted supply chains.

Despite this focus, resilience remains a challenge, with only 6% of organisations confident in their ability to withstand all surveyed cyber vulnerabilities. Meanwhile, 67% of companies follow a costly strategy of splitting their cyber spending equally between proactive and reactive measures, rather than dedicating significantly more to prevention.

To address the growing threat surface, organisations are prioritising Agentic AI for defence in areas like cloud security and data protection. However, many are unprepared for the emerging threat of quantum computing, with fewer than 10% prioritising it in budgets. The pervasive cyber talent crisis is being tackled by a majority of 53% of firms through the prioritisation of AI and machine learning tools to close capability gaps.