96% of Worldwide Businesses Aren’t Prepared To Combat Modern Cyberthreats

According to Cisco’s 2025 Cybersecurity Readiness Index, only 4% of organizations worldwide hit the benchmark for security maturity, leaving 96% open to cyberthreats.

These findings came from Cisco’s double-blind research on nearly 10,000 private sector security businesses across 30 global markets. The results were evaluated using metrics such as network resilience, cloud reinforcements, AI fortification, and machine trustworthiness.

This research clearly shows that organizations are far from prepared to tackle the cybersecurity challenges of today’s world. In 2025, only 4% of businesses attained cybersecurity readiness, and this percentage has increased by only 1% since the previous year.

This indicates that businesses are struggling to keep up with the growing sophistication of cyberthreats, making them a prime target for malicious actors.

• Businesses underestimate the intricacies of AI security.
  • 86% have experienced AI-driven cybersecurity incidents.
  • 45% believe their business is ready to conduct full-scale AI security assessments.
  • Only 10% believe AI threats to be a significant security concern.

• Mismatch between AI security awareness and facing AI threats.
  • 41% lack advanced safeguards on AI training datasets.
  • 60% are unaware of user-level interactions with GenAI tools.
  • 52% report limited employee knowledge about how cybercriminals leverage AI.
  • Only 49% believe their staff understands the full scope of AI-driven cyber risks.

• Growing awareness about the need to invest in cybersecurity but difficulties with talent deficiencies.
  • 96% intend to upgrade IT systems over the next couple of years.
  • 53% report having a backlog of over 10 open cybersecurity positions.
  • 8% fewer businesses are allocating more than 10% of their IT budget to cybersecurity, compared to 2024.

At Best Reviews, we’ve warned about the evolving cyberthreats and the possibility that 2025 might be the worst year for cybersecurity. AI is slowly integrating the whole online landscape, and hackers are taking advantage of this to enhance and create sophisticated cyberthreats. This poses serious risks, especially for businesses with outdated IT security and weak infrastructure. That, along with poor cybersecurity training, is a ticking time bomb.

If you own a business, we recommend reading our articles about the role of cybersecurity for organizations:

• Cybersecurity Best Practices for Small Businesses
• Cybersecurity Essentials for Small Businesses
• Business Strategies To Survive Cyberwarfare
• 4 Reasons Why Your Small Business Needs Endpoint Security
• How To Ensure a Secure Digital Transformation of Your Business