"Secure Creators" (organizations with more advanced cybersecurity functions than their peers) were more involved in efforts to improve customer experience than their peers (53% vs. 42%).

Almost all (88%) of respondents reported that AI has the potential to critically or significantly enhance software supply chain security visibility.

30% of EMEA manufacturing respondents cite regulatory requirements as a main driver for Secure Remote Access (SRA) implementation.

Over 90% of modern codebases are built upon open-source dependencies.

Nearly 40% of financial organizations are already implementing or planning the integration of a unified FRAML (Fraud + AML) strategy.

Only 44% of organizations report having policies in place to secure AI agents.

The study found that cybersecurity simplification and automation have led to direct cost savings, with a median US$1.7m saved annually.

70% of respondents admitted that when a fix is not available for a vulnerability, they either don’t have or are not sure if they have a remediation plan in place

50% of manufacturers reported cost savings as a benefit of secure remote access.

A CryptoCore campaign in early 2025, which leveraged deepfake videos, stole close to $4 million spread through more than 2,000 transactions

60% of manufacturers permit more than 100 external parties (vendors, contractors, suppliers, OEMs, etc.) to access OT environments remotely.

42% of manufacturing respondents reported that SRA improves compliance

58% of respondents say AI agent's potential to perform unintended actions is a factor contributing to AI agents as a security risk.

Alarmingly, 23% reported their AI agents have been tricked into revealing access credentials.

32% of security professionals think they can deliver zero-vulnerability software.

Cybersecurity contributes 11% to 20% in value to each enterprise-wide strategic initiative it is involved in.

Automation efforts have decreased respondents' mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to respond (MTTR) by 28%, on average.

47% of manufacturing respondents expect better compliance as the benefit AI adoption in remote access security.

31% of respondents say AI agents accessed inappropriate data.

Cybersecurity budgets as a percent of annual revenue have decreased over the last two years, from 1.1% to 0.6%.