ESCON CISO Survey 2026: Harnessing Next-Generation Cyber Resilience

CISO Survey 2026: Harnessing Next-Generation Cyber Resilience

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Overview

The ESCON CISO Survey 2026 aims to decode how security leaders are navigating an increasingly complex landscape shaped by AI adoption, distributed infrastructure, and evolving threat vectors. As enterprises move beyond traditional perimeter-based security, the survey captures how CISOs are strengthening cyber resilience across data, identity, cloud, and critical systems, while aligning security strategies with business continuity and digital growth.

Focusing on areas such as threat preparedness, cloud and data security, identity-led frameworks, automation in security operations, and regulatory readiness, the survey will uncover the gap between perceived maturity and real-world readiness. The insights will help benchmark enterprise security postures, highlight emerging priorities, and shape the ESCON Cybersecurity Report 2026, offering a clear view of how organizations are transitioning from reactive defense to proactive, intelligence-led resilience.

Share how you adapt to the dynamic threat environment, the technologies shaping your defence strategies, and the measures taken to fortify digital assets. Whether you're a security leader, decision-maker, or industry observer, share your insights and valuable perspectives on the future of cybersecurity.

We value your opinion!

Cybersecurity reporting structure

Cybersecurity is a dynamic landscape, we would like to understand how enterprises are working towards building a cyber resilient strategy...

Start

Q1.

How would you rate your organization's readiness or maturity towards enterprise security?

Focus on strengthening controls to reduce the likelihood of cyber incidents
Focus on identifying and responding to threats as quickly as possible
Focus on meeting regulatory and audit requirements
Focus on minimizing business disruption and ensuring rapid recovery
Focus on managing cyber risk exposure aligned to business impact
Focus on securing users, access, and sensitive data across environments
Focus on improving efficiency through AI-assisted security operations

A response is mandatory

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Q2.

How do you primarily manage day-to-day security operations?

Entirely in-house with a dedicated SOC (Security Operations Center)
Partially in-house and partially outsourced
Fully outsourced to a Managed Security Services Provider (MSSP)
Ad-hoc approach without a formal SOC or MSSP

A response is mandatory

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Q3.

What are the key drivers of your organizations' current cybersecurity strategy?
Select all that apply.

Regulatory or compliance requirements (e.g., GDPR, HIPAA, PCI-DSS)
Executive / Board directives
Past breaches or security incidents
Digital transformation initiatives (cloud migration, remote work, etc.)
Industry standards and best practices
Customer / partner demands
Competitive advantage

Others

A response is mandatory

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Q4.

How would you assess the relative maturity of the following cybersecurity domains in your organization today? (Select High Maturity for up to 3 domains and Low Maturity / Gaps for up to 3 domains)

Cybersecurity Domain	High Maturity	Low Maturity / Gaps
Identity & Access Management
Network Security
Endpoint Security
Cloud Workload & SaaS Security
Data Security (Discovery, Classification & Protection)
Incident Response & Forensics
Governance, Risk & Compliance (GRC)
Identity Governance & Administration (IGA)
Third-Party / Supply Chain Risk
OT / IoT Security
AI / ML Security

Response mandatory for all.

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Q5.

How would you describe your organization's primary cybersecurity strategy approach?
Select all that apply

Dedicated board or subcommittee oversight for cybersecurity
Regular cyber risk reporting using business-impact metrics
Board involvement in major cyber investment decisions
Tabletop or crisis simulations involving board members
Clear accountability for cyber outcomes at CXO level

A response is mandatory

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Q6.

Have your organization made significant changes to the cybersecurity strategy in the last 12-14 months?

Yes, we performed a major overhaul
Yes, we made moderate adjustments
Minor changes only
No significant changes

A response is mandatory

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Q9.

In the enterprise-security domain, what is the current status of the below security tools/processes to ensure cyber resilience in your organization?

	Implemented & continuously optimized	Implemented & operationalized	Implementation in process	Planned/ Under evaluation	No plans yet
Cyber Risk & Exposure Management (CREM) !(Risk identification, prioritization, quantification, governance)
Cyber Resilience & Recovery Services !(Incident response, crisis management, business continuity)
Data Security & Privacy Management !(Discovery, classification, protection, DPDP compliance)
Backup, Storage & Recovery !(Ransomware recovery, immutable backups, DR)
Identity & Access Security !(IAM, PAM, identity governance)
Network & Perimeter Security !(Segmentation, secure access, network controls)
Endpoint & Workforce Security !(Devices, remote access, user protection)
Cloud & SaaS Security !(Workload protection, posture management, SSE)
Application & API Security !(DevSecOps, code security, runtime protection)
Infrastructure & Platform Security !(On-prem, virtualization, container security)
Security Operations & Threat Detection !(SOC, SIEM, XDR, threat intelligence)
AI & Generative AI Security !(Model security, data protection, AI governance)
Third-Party & Supply-Chain Security !(Vendor risk, ecosystem exposure)

Response mandatory for all.

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Q 10.

How is cyber risk exposure currently measured and prioritized in your organization?

Primarily based on technical severity
Based on asset criticality and threat context
Quantified and linked to business impact
Reviewed as part of enterprise risk management
Not formally measured

A response is mandatory

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Q 11.

Which CREM practices are actively used within your organization as of today?

Continuous attack surface or exposure monitoring
Risk-based prioritization of vulnerabilities
Tracking exposure reduction over time
Cyber risk dashboards for leadership
CREM practices not yet implemented

A response is mandatory

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Q 12.

What cyber risk exposure insights are used within your organization primarily to:

Guide operational remediation
Support compliance and audits
Inform security investment decisions
Support board-level risk discussions
Limited practical use today

A response is mandatory

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Q 13.

What is the current maturity of personal and sensitive data visibility in your organization?

Limited visibility into data locations
Partial discovery and classification
Broad discovery with manual processes
Automated and continuously updated
Not clearly assessed

A response is mandatory

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Q 14.

DPDP Act preparedness has driven the most change in

Data discovery and classification
Consent and purpose limitation processes
Retention, deletion, and minimization policies
Third-party data sharing controls
Breach response and reporting processes

A response is mandatory

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Q 15.

The biggest ongoing challenge in operationalizing data security is:

Identifying and mapping sensitive data
Enforcing controls consistently
Managing third-party data exposure
Aligning business teams to data policies
Tooling and automation gaps

A response is mandatory

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Q 16.

What are the top priorities for your organization when evaluating cybersecurity observability solutions?
Select all that apply.

End-to-end visibility across cloud, on-prem, and hybrid environments
Faster threat detection and incident response times
AI-driven anomaly detection and predictive analytics
Compliance and regulatory alignment (e.g., DPDP, GDPR, NIST)
Seamless integration with existing security tools (SIEM, SOAR, XDR)
Reducing mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR)
Cost and resource optimization for security operations

A response is mandatory

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AI in induced in every aspects around us, including cybersecurity, we would like understand its true utilization

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Q19.

Did you repatriate your AI project?

A response is mandatory

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Q21.

What challenges have you encountered in implementing AI in cybersecurity?
Select all that apply.

High cost of implementation
Lack of skilled personnel
Integration with existing systems
Data privacy concerns
Scalability issues
Algorithm transparency and explainability

Others

A response is mandatory

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With a dynamic cybersecurity landscape, how agile is the approach of enterprises

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Q22.

Which emerging initiatives are you currently adopting or planning to adopt to improve your organization's cybersecurity stature?

	Already Adopted	Evaluating	Not in Consideration
Cyber Risk & Exposure Management (CREM)
AI or Generative AI security initiatives
Zero Trust architecture
DevSecOps and secure-by-design practices
Continuous attack surface management
Cyber resilience and recovery programs
Third-party / supply-chain risk management
DPDP-aligned data governance frameworks
Risk quantification and business-impact modeling
Security platform consolidation
AI-driven threat detection and response
Security automation and orchestration
Identity-first security approach
Cloud-native security platforms

Response for all options mandatory

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Q25.

Are you correctly cyber insured against any damage or loss from cybersecurity incidents, including employee negligence or insider threats?

Yes, aptly insured
No, not adequately insured

A response is mandatory

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While incidents are bound to happen, we intend to understand the preparedness of organizations' IR plan

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Q26.

If a cyber incident is to happen today in your organization, how confident are you to handle it in all aspects?

1 - We are completely equipped to handle a cyber incident
2
3
4
5 - We are not prepared to handle a cyber incident as of now

A response is mandatory

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Q27.

Which resilience capabilities are regularly tested or exercised?
Select all that apply.

Incident response playbooks
Backup and restore procedures
Crisis communication processes
Executive or board-level simulations
Testing is infrequent or ad hoc

A response is mandatory

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Q28.

Over the next 2 years, resilience investments will prioritize

Faster detection and response
Improved recovery and restoration
Business continuity and uptime assurance
Executive crisis preparedness
Maintaining current posture

A response is mandatory

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Q29.

Please let us know the share of the enterprise security budget in your overall IT budget

Our Enterprise security budget is separate from IT budget

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Q30.

How has your cybersecurity budget changed over the past year?

Increased by > 10%
Increased within 1-10%
Remained Same
Decreased by 1-10%
Decreased by > 10%

A response is mandatory

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Q31.

Please select the appropriate range, mentioning your organization's Enterprise security budget for the year 2026-2027?

< USD 50,000
USD 50,000 - 100,000
USD 100,000 - 250,000
USD 250,000 - 500,000
USD 500,000 - 750,000
USD 750,000 - 1,000,000
USD 1 - 5 Million
USD 5 - 10 Million
> USD 10 Million

A response is mandatory

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Q32.

Please share your perception on your organization's Enterprise security budget

Enterprise security budget is sufficient
Enterprise security budget share is less
Enterprise security budget share is more than required

A response is mandatory

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Q33.

What is the % share of below components in your Enterprise security budget?
The sum of all % should be 100.

Cyber resilience services %
Data Security %
Incident Reporting %
Data Storage/ Backup/ Recovery %
Risk Management %
Network Security Management %
Infrastructure Security %
Cloud Security %
End User - Device Management %
Application Security Management %
AI or Generative AI %

The sum of state number should be equal to 100

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Q34.

How is your enterprise security budget expected to change in next year 2026-2027?

Increased by more than 15%
Increase by 11-14%
Increased by 6-10%
Increase by less than 5%
Will remain unchanged
Decrease by less than 5%
Decrease by >5%

A response is mandatory

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Q35.

In which areas do you plan to increase your organizations' budget to improve the enterprise security in the upcoming 12 months?
Top 3 priorities

	Priority 1	Priority 2	Priority 3
Cyber resilience services
Data Security
Incident Reporting
Data Storage/ Backup/ Recovery
Risk Management / Threat Intelligence
Network Security Management
Identity and access management
Infrastructure Security
Cloud Security
End User - Device Management
Application Security Management
Compliance & Audit
Training and awareness programs
AI driven cybersecurity solution

A response is mandatory

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Q36.

What according to you are the challenges to improving cyber-security and cyber-resilience within your organization? Select Top 5, where Rank 1 is Top Challenge, followed by others

Fragmented IT and security infrastructure
Limited visibility into data, assets, and risk exposure
Shortage of skilled cybersecurity personnel
Budget constraints or competing business priorities
Security initiatives lagging behind digital transformation
Over-reliance on legacy systems and processes
Lack of enterprise-wide governance or ownership
Difficulty in aligning cybersecurity priorities with business objectives
Challenges in managing third-party or supply-chain risk
Integration challenges across security tools and platforms
Limited executive or board-level involvement
Regulatory and compliance complexity (e.g., DPDP Act)
Inconsistent enforcement of security policies
Operational silos across IT, security, and business teams
Lack of measurable cyber risk insights for decision-making

Please ensure the ranks given are correct and in sequence

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Q37.

Would you be willing to participate in a follow-up discussion or interview?

Yes, please contact me
No, not at this time

A response is mandatory

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