The Clock Is Ticking on Enterprise Security
A sweeping new industry report reveals a stark disconnect between how organizations perceive their security readiness and the scale of threats bearing down on them. Kyndryl’s 2025–2026 Security and Networks Readiness Report, drawing on responses from 3,700 business leaders across 21 countries, paints a sobering picture of enterprises racing to modernize amid converging, accelerating risks.
Quantum Threat: The Danger Most Leaders Are Ignoring
While artificial intelligence dominates executive conversations, quantum computing is quietly emerging as a more immediate threat to cryptography. Cybercriminals are already executing “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks — collecting encrypted data today with plans to decode it once quantum machines mature. Yet only 4% of leaders identify quantum as the top near-term technology threat, even as 62% report active investment in it and 20% doubt it will deliver short-term returns. Experts warn that “Q-day” — when quantum computers can shatter today’s encryption — could arrive within this decade.
Data Sovereignty: Compliance Is Now an Architecture Problem
The era of seamless cross-border data flow is closing fast. A significant 84% of surveyed leaders say data sovereignty and repatriation regulations have grown more pressing over the past year, while 82% express concern over rising geopolitical tensions. Yet 91% claim their cloud infrastructure can adapt to shifting regulatory requirements — a confidence gap that regulators and adversaries may exploit. Sovereignty is no longer a legal footnote; it is now a fundamental design constraint shaping where infrastructure gets built and how applications are architected.
Aging Networks Are Quietly Choking AI Ambitions
Perhaps the most urgent operational finding: 25% of mission-critical networks, storage systems, and servers have reached end-of-service. Just 37% of leaders believe their network infrastructure is prepared for future disruptions, and 30% of organizations that suffered cyber-related outages trace the cause directly to network failures.
The report’s central message is clear — organizations that continue treating quantum preparedness, data sovereignty, and network modernization as separate, siloed problems will find the gaps between them are precisely where the next major breach begins.
