The Cybersecurity Disconnect Every Business Needs to Fix

The 2025 Cybersecurity Assessment Report from Bitdefender has uncovered a concerning rift inside organisations, one that may pose as much risk as external cyber attacks. The research shows a sharp contrast between how confident senior executives feel about managing cyber risk and how mid-level security teams view the situation.

According to the report, 45% of C-level executives say they are “very confident” in their ability to handle cyber risk. In comparison, just 19% of mid-level security managers share that level of confidence. This divide reveals more than a difference in perspective; it highlights a deeper organisational fault line around communication, priorities, and operational awareness.

A Divide Rooted in Perspective
Senior leadership often sees cybersecurity through a strategic or compliance-oriented lens – thinking about budgets, brand protection, and regulatory risk. By contrast, mid-level security teams grapple with the day-to-day realities: managing vulnerabilities, responding to alerts, and defending against an ever-shifting array of threats. Bitdefender’s findings suggest this mismatch may lead to critical blind spots. While executives list adopting AI tools as their top cybersecurity goal, security managers are more concerned with identity management, cloud security and reducing vulnerabilities – issues they believe require immediate attention.

This interplay of vision versus execution can create dangerous assumptions. Executives might believe that investing in advanced AI-driven security equals strong protection. But if fundamental practices such as proper configuration, access controls and timely patching are neglected, the organisation remains vulnerable.

Confidence vs Capability
The confidence gap also raises questions about how well leadership really understands the complexity of today’s cyber landscape. With threats increasingly originating from within the organisation – for example credential misuse and “living off the land” techniques – many traditional defences fall short.
Bitdefender’s report states that 84% of high-severity incidents now exploit legitimate tools already present in the victim environment. Yet, the high confidence reported by senior leadership may reflect a false sense of security about the organisation’s genuine capabilities.

For mid-level managers, this disparity can be frustrating. Many security teams report being understaffed, under-resourced and overwhelmed by tool sprawl – juggling multiple platforms that don’t integrate effectively. The report reveals that 31% of cybersecurity professionals cite tool complexity as a key challenge, and nearly half say the skills gap has worsened in the past year.

Why This Gap Matters
The perception gap isn’t just about morale, it has real operational consequences. When executives underestimate cyber risk, they may delay crucial investments or overlook foundational security improvements. Conversely, when frontline teams feel unheard, the organisation risks burnout, higher turnover and weaker defences. 
Regulatory and reputational risks are escalating too. The report finds that 57.6% of cybersecurity professionals have been instructed to remain silent about breaches, even when they believe disclosure was ethically or legally appropriate. The tension between transparency and optics underscores the broader cultural divide between leadership and operations.

Bridging the Divide
Closing this confidence gap requires alignment, not assumptions. Cybersecurity must be treated both as a board-level priority and an operational imperative. Bitdefender advises organisations to:

• Involve mid-level security leaders in strategic decision‐making, creating shared accountability.

• Improve communication between senior leadership and operational teams through regular briefings and threat intelligence sharing.

• Invest in training, simplify toolsets, and empower staff with clarity and skills.

• Measure confidence against actual readiness using objective metrics – not just perceptions – to assess true risk posture.

A Cultural Shift Ahead
Ultimately, the Bitdefender 2025 report doesn’t just highlight a cybersecurity deficiency, it underscores a cultural one. True resilience hinges not only on technology, but on people, processes and alignment. As threats become faster, smarter and more agile, bridging the internal divide between strategy and execution may become just as crucial as defending against external attackers.

Organisations that succeed will be those that align their people, processes and priorities — from the server room to the boardroom.

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