2026 Cybersecurity Report:

What 951 IT Leaders Reveal About AI and Cyber Risk

How are IT and security professionals addressing their most pressing cybersecurity challenges, such as dealing with the power of artificial-intelligence-based attacks and tying their security efforts to business outcomes? New research from CDW reveals that AI represents a daunting new threat, but it also has the potential to help IT teams improve their security posture and make better investments. Read what our research revealed and gain a better understanding how other organizations are handling these issues.

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OF IT AND SECURITY PROFESSIONALS SAID THEY HAD EXPERIENCED AI-ENHANCED OR GENERATED PHISHING ATTACKS

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CITED AI-DRIVEN THREAT DETECTION AND ANOMALY DETECTION WHEN ASKED HOW THEIR ORGANIZATION IS USING AI TO STRENGTHEN CYBERSECURITY

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CITED COMPLEX IT AND CLOUD ENVIRONMENTS AMONG THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES THEY FACE IN QUANTIFYING CYBERSECURITY RISKS

Access CDW's 2026 Cybersecurity Report

How are IT and security professionals addressing their most pressing cybersecurity challenges, such as dealing with the power of artificial-intelligence-based attacks and tying their security efforts to business outcomes? New research from CDW reveals that AI represents a daunting new threat, but it also has the potential to help IT teams improve their security posture and make better investments. Read what our research revealed and gain a better understanding how other organizations are handling these issues.

Pie Chart 1

OF IT AND SECURITY PROFESSIONALS SAID THEY HAD EXPERIENCED AI-ENHANCED OR GENERATED PHISHING ATTACKS

Pie Chart 2

CITED AI-DRIVEN THREAT DETECTION AND ANOMALY DETECTION WHEN ASKED HOW THEIR ORGANIZATION IS USING AI TO STRENGTHEN CYBERSECURITY

prr-lp-ai-pie3-mobile-v1

CITED COMPLEX IT AND CLOUD ENVIRONMENTS AMONG THE BIGGEST CHALLENGES THEY FACE IN QUANTIFYING CYBERSECURITY RISKS

Access CDW's 2026 Cybersecurity Report

Pull quote
“AI is making it imperative to prioritize your defense strategy and remediation plan because AI-based threats have increased the scale and volume of alerts and potential threat vectors exponentially. The only way to do this is by measuring risks.” -Stephanie Hagopian

Modern Cybersecurity Is Always Asking Tough Questions. We’ve Got Answers

Cybersecurity is a constant concern for organizations across every industry. We surveyed more than 950 IT and security professionals to better understand the most pressing issues they face:

  • What are the most daunting threats they face from AI?
  • How are they implementing AI tools to help protect their data and systems?
  • How do they measure the value of their security investments?

Our report dives deep into these issues and explains how efforts such as continuous threat exposure management and threat intelligence-driven assessments can help IT leaders improve their security posture. Further, CDW’s top security experts provide guidance on how organizations can address their most difficult challenges.

Graph 4

WHAT ARE THE BIGGEST

CHALLENGES YOUR ORGANIZATION
FACES IN QUANTIFYING ITS
CYBERSECURITY RISKS?

Pie Chart 3

COMPLEX IT AND
CLOUD ENVIRONMENTS

Get clearer visibility into risk and build lasting resilience with the right security strategy.

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Get clearer visibility into risk and build lasting resilience with the right security strategy.

Click To Learn More