Cynet Releases 2026 Global AI Security Readiness Report
New report shows more than half of in-house security teams want managed service providers (MSPs) involved when adopting new cybersecurity capabilities, while 60% reporting security incidents
BOSTON, July 09, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Cynet, the only unified, AI-powered cybersecurity platform empowering security teams to manage the full attack path, today announced the release of its 2026 Global AI Security Readiness Report, which reveals how managed service providers (MSPs) and in-house security teams are preparing people, processes and products to defend against AI-driven threats.
“The typical approach to emerging threats is to deploy another point tool,” said Jeannine Edwards, Senior Director, Cynet Community. “This leads to more noise, alert fatigue, tooling customization and fragmented defense. Today’s attacks are paths, not points. A natively-built platform offers breadth of coverage and end-to-end visibility.”
The AI Impact
Defending against AI-enabled phishing and social engineering is the highest priority for MSPs and in-house security teams. However, less than half of in-house teams are very confident in their ability to respond to security incidents, while 71% of MSPs say they are very confident in their ability to detect and respond to customer incidents.
In 2026, 78% of in-house teams and 89% of MSPs plan to spend more on security tools when compared to 2025, and 42% of in-house teams are considering faster detection and response as a critical outcome for security investments, noting a dwindling time-to-exploit window.
MSPs remain at the forefront of AI adoption, with over half embedding AI within security platforms, including endpoint detection and response (EDR), extended detection and response (XDR), and managed detection and response (MDR), and 56% employing automated remediation and response systems.
The Current Threat Landscape
Compared to in-house security teams, MSPs lead the fight against modern cyber threats. In-house teams were far more likely to experience or suspect a security incident (60%) than MSPs' customers (22% on average), positioning MSPs to proactively prevent attacks before they occur.
As organizations work to combat modern cybersecurity threats, balancing tool effectiveness against tool sprawl remains a major challenge. MSPs manage 60% more security tools than their in-house counterparts on average, giving them broader coverage across client environments, but also greater risk of correlation gaps and slower triage and response.
For more information on how organizations are preparing for the future of cyber defense with MSPs, visit www.cynet.com and watch the latest webinars on AI security readiness here.
Methodology
Cynet surveyed 800 Managed Service Providers (MSPs) and 800 in-house security teams to understand how small-to-medium-sized businesses (SMBs) are responding to the new AI-led chapter of cybersecurity. Respondents were based in Australia, Canada, Ireland, Italy, New Zealand, Portugal, Spain, the UK, and the U.S. Interviews were conducted by Sapio Research in March 2026 using an email invitation and an online survey. The analysis in this report is informed by Cynet’s Threat Intelligence, a collection of insights from original research, real-world metrics, news analysis, and data feeds.
About Cynet
Cynet is the leader in attack path management. Cynet’s natively unified cybersecurity platform combines AI correlation with 24x7 CyOps security experts to autonomously remediate 90% of threats with an industry-low false positive rate. Every investigation strengthens future detections to keep defenders faster than the adversary. Headquartered in Boston, Cynet is trusted by thousands of IT channel partners and their customers globally to see the path, stop the attack, and deliver cybersecurity peace of mind. Learn more at cynet.com.
Media Contact
Cynet Communications
press@cynet.com
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