AI, hidden breaches and data sovereignty reshape enterprise cybersecurity
AI, hidden breaches and data sovereignty reshape enterprise cybersecurity
Publish Date: 2026-07-04 01:05:00
Source Domain: www.escudodigital.com
The risks associated with the use of artificial intelligence (AI), the continued concealment of security breaches and the growing importance of data sovereignty are among the biggest cybersecurity challenges facing organizations today.
These are the findings of “Bitdefender Cybersecurity Assessment 2026”, based on a survey of more than 1,200 IT and cybersecurity professionals working at companies with at least 500 employees across the United States, France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and Singapore.
The report identifies the key concerns, threats and challenges that, according to respondents, are shaping organizations’ cybersecurity strategies. Below are some of its main findings highlighted by Bitdefender.
Limited visibility into AI use
The report reveals that nearly half of organizations lack full visibility into how employees use AI tools. While 51.8% of respondents say they have complete visibility into both authorized and unauthorized AI usage, 47.4% admit they have only partial or no visibility into Shadow AI tools or personal AI accounts used for work purposes.
The study also highlights a perception gap between executives and technical professionals. While 57.8% of decision-makers believe their organizations have full control over AI usage, that figure drops to 45.9% among technical specialists. According to Bitdefender, this suggests that senior management may be underestimating their organizations’ actual level of exposure.
Internal AI systems and cloud infrastructure top security concerns
Internal AI systems and large language models (LLMs) rank as cybersecurity professionals’ top concern, cited by 45% of respondents. Cloud infrastructure and applications follow closely at 44%, while Identity and Access Management (IAM) systems rank third at 33.3%.
However, the report identifies a contradiction between perceived and actual risk. Although AI is regarded as the primary concern, one in five respondents…
