A new Storm Technology report has found that many organisations are under prepared for advanced threats in 2026.
A survey from business consultancy Storm Technology, which is part of Littlefish, has found that 27pc of IT leaders are concerned about their ability to detect deepfake attacks. This fear was felt more acutely by respondents in larger enterprises, one-third of whom expressed this concern, compared to 23pc of SME leaders.
Conducted by Censuswide, the survey collected data from 200 IT decision-makers and leaders across Ireland and the UK, to explore the most pressing concerns around the AI and security landscape. 34pc said data breaches were the largest issue, 31pc believe it to be the increased risk of cyberattacks and one-quarter are wary of shadow AI, that is, the use of unsanctioned tools.
Shadow AI was shown to be a particularly contentious issue as despite 42pc of participating IT leaders explaining that company data is made vulnerable by the unpermitted or shadow AI tools, half of the respondents also said they know that people in their organisation are using such tools.
55pc even admitted using unsanctioned tools themselves with only 60pc of companies having been specific about which AI tools are sanctioned or permitted.
Storm Technology’s report also indicated that 32pc of IT leaders don’t have a strategy in place to address any AI risks that arise.
Furthermore, nearly 80pc of contributing IT experts in Ireland and the UK said their organisation could benefit from focusing on the regulation of AI tools, as 28pc believe that current internal governance is inadequate. This figure rose to 35pc among Irish respondents.
When it comes to AI and data, 24pc of IT leaders don’t think their business data is ready for AI.
According to the report, this could explain why 78pc believe a data readiness project is required to ensure successful AI adoption in their company.
Commenting on the report, Sean Tickle, the cyber services director of Littlefish, said: “AI is rapidly reshaping the enterprise landscape, but the speed of adoption is outpacing the maturity of governance. When nearly a third of organisations lack a strategy to manage AI risk, and over half of IT leaders admit to using unsanctioned tools, it’s clear that shadow AI isn’t just a user issue, it’s a leadership one.
“Deepfake threats, data governance gaps and a lack of trust in AI platforms are converging into a perfect storm. To stay secure and competitive, businesses must invest in visibility, policy clarity and data readiness, because without those, AI becomes a liability, not a differentiator.”
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