Survey: 72% of CISOs Are Concerned Generative AI Solutions Could Result In Security Breach

  • Apr 29, 2024

Metomic recently released its “2024 CISO Survey: Insights from the Security Leaders Keeping Critical Business Data Safe.” Metomic surveyed more than 400 Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) from the U.S. and UK to gain deeper insights on the state of data security. The report includes survey findings on various cybersecurity issues, including security leaders’ top priorities and challenges, SaaS app usage across their organization, and biggest concerns with implementing generative AI solutions.

Data breaches are continuing to surge across industries, but particularly for healthcare, finance, and manufacturing organizations. According to industry reports, U.S. companies experienced 3,205 data breaches last year (up from 1,802 data breaches in 2022), with the average cost of a data breach in the U.S. climbing to $9.48 million in 2023.

According to Metomic’s survey findings, CISOs from both the U.S. and UK rank data breaches as their top security concern. In the U.S. AI and emerging tech follow data breaches as a top concern. In the UK, phishing schemes and compromised accounts follow data breaches as a top concern. The survey revealed that 84% of CISOs plan to focus their time and efforts on security operations in 2024, followed by strategy and planning initiatives (82%), and security awareness and training (79%). Thirty-six percent of CISOs in the U.S. report their organization uses more than 200 SaaS applications to run the business.

When looking at the biggest concerns connected to generative AI, security breaches were at the top of the list with 72% of CISOs confirming they are a primary concern, followed by sensitive company data being used to train the LLMs powering generative AI solutions.

Here is a snapshot of the biggest insights from Metomic’s CISO survey:

  • More than half of the survey respondents confirmed they have already experienced malware and phishing attacks on an occasional or frequent basis.
  • Creating and maintaining a strong security culture and awareness is a top challenge for both U.S. CISOs (41%) and UK CISOs (34%).
  • Nearly 60% of CISOs in the UK and U.S. say they should be spending more time on security ops, security awareness and training, and risk management.
  • The majority of respondents (80%) believe their organization runs security training programs for employees outside of the security organization often enough, while 93% believe employees have a high level of awareness when it comes to handling confidential and/or sensitive business data.
  • More than 80% of the CISOs surveyed somewhat or strongly agreed they can get the resources they need to do their job.
  • When looking at the number of SaaS apps businesses are currently using, 7% of U.S. CISOs and 4% of UK CISOs report their organizations have implemented more than 500 collaborative work apps.
  • Four-fifths of CISOs and IT security leaders plan to implement AI-powered tools to fight emerging AI-based security schemes and threats.

“Our research makes clear just how many challenges today’s CISOs are up against. In addition to protecting their organization against data security threats, they are prioritizing security operations and implementing training programs while trying to build a security-focused culture across the organization. They are overseeing IT budgets, monitoring SaaS environments, and calculating the impact of AI on their security efforts. It’s an exhaustive list that is becoming increasingly more difficult to manage,” said Rich Vibert, co-founder and CEO, Metomic. “As part of the cybersecurity community, we conducted this survey to offer security leaders a helpful resource when building their own data security policies. Being a CISO can feel extremely isolating, especially when it’s your job to manage the very tools your business uses to keep things moving forward. Metomic exists so that we can help CISOs better monitor their systems and networks by adding an extra layer of protection across their SaaS ecosystems.”

The reality is that the more SaaS apps a business implements and the more employees it has, the greater the risk of vulnerable company data landing in the wrong hands (industry reports claim 95% of data breaches are the result of human error). Metomic’s research found that 40% of the 6.5 million Google Drives it scanned included sensitive data that could put an organization at risk of a data breach or cybersecurity attack.

Featured

  • New Report Reveals Top Trends Transforming Access Controller Technology

    Mercury Security, a provider in access control hardware and open platform solutions, has published its Trends in Access Controllers Report, based on a survey of over 450 security professionals across North America and Europe. The findings highlight the controller’s vital role in a physical access control system (PACS), where the device not only enforces access policies but also connects with readers to verify user credentials—ranging from ID badges to biometrics and mobile identities. With 72% of respondents identifying the controller as a critical or important factor in PACS design, the report underscores how the choice of controller platform has become a strategic decision for today’s security leaders. Read Now

  • Overwhelming Majority of CISOs Anticipate Surge in Cyber Attacks Over the Next Three Years

    An overwhelming 98% of chief information security officers (CISOs) expect a surge in cyber attacks over the next three years as organizations face an increasingly complex and artificial intelligence (AI)-driven digital threat landscape. This is according to new research conducted among 300 CISOs, chief information officers (CIOs), and senior IT professionals by CSC1, the leading provider of enterprise-class domain and domain name system (DNS) security. Read Now

  • ASIS International Introduces New ANSI-Approved Investigations Standard

    • Guard Services

  • Cloud Security Alliance Brings AI-Assisted Auditing to Cloud Computing

    The Cloud Security Alliance (CSA), the world’s leading organization dedicated to defining standards, certifications, and best practices to help ensure a secure cloud computing environment, today introduced an innovative addition to its suite of Security, Trust, Assurance and Risk (STAR) Registry assessments with the launch of Valid-AI-ted, an AI-powered, automated validation system. The new tool provides an automated quality check of assurance information of STAR Level 1 self-assessments using state-of-the-art LLM technology. Read Now

  • Report: Nearly 1 in 5 Healthcare Leaders Say Cyberattacks Have Impacted Patient Care

    Omega Systems, a provider of managed IT and security services, today released new research that reveals the growing impact of cybersecurity challenges on leading healthcare organizations and patient safety. According to the 2025 Healthcare IT Landscape Report, 19% of healthcare leaders say a cyberattack has already disrupted patient care, and more than half (52%) believe a fatal cyber-related incident is inevitable within the next five years. Read Now

Most   Popular

New Products

  • QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC)

    The latest Qualcomm® Vision Intelligence Platform offers next-generation smart camera IoT solutions to improve safety and security across enterprises, cities and spaces. The Vision Intelligence Platform was expanded in March 2022 with the introduction of the QCS7230 System-on-Chip (SoC), which delivers superior artificial intelligence (AI) inferencing at the edge.

  • HD2055 Modular Barricade

    Delta Scientific’s electric HD2055 modular shallow foundation barricade is tested to ASTM M50/P1 with negative penetration from the vehicle upon impact. With a shallow foundation of only 24 inches, the HD2055 can be installed without worrying about buried power lines and other below grade obstructions. The modular make-up of the barrier also allows you to cover wider roadways by adding additional modules to the system. The HD2055 boasts an Emergency Fast Operation of 1.5 seconds giving the guard ample time to deploy under a high threat situation.

  • EasyGate SPT and SPD

    EasyGate SPT SPD

    Security solutions do not have to be ordinary, let alone unattractive. Having renewed their best-selling speed gates, Cominfo has once again demonstrated their Art of Security philosophy in practice — and confirmed their position as an industry-leading manufacturers of premium speed gates and turnstiles.