In a world where cyber warfare is now a “constant condition” there are warnings that it is now at a “pressure cooker” moment.

Cyber exposure management & security company, Armis said as emerging technologies accelerate cyber operations and geopolitical tensions worsen, attackers are increasingly targeting the infrastructure, information, and systems that underpin global stability.

“Geopolitical tensions, AI acceleration, and unresolved security gaps are colliding, bringing the state of cyberwarfare to a boiling point,” said Nadir Izrael, CTO and co-founder of Armis. “Cyberwarfare is now a constant condition; attackers are operating at machine speed, while too many organisations are still trying to defend themselves with assumptions and structures built for a very different threat landscape. Organisational leaders must heed the call and immediately enhance their proactive cybersecurity operations before it is too late.”

Findings from Armis Labs’ fourth annual global Cyberwarfare report, A World Under Pressure: Cyberwarfare in an Age of AI-Fuelled Escalation, has highlighted how quickly that pressure is building. Nearly eight in ten IT decision-makers (79%) globally are concerned about nation-state actors using AI to develop more sophisticated and targeted cyberattacks, up from 73% last year, while two-thirds (67%) believe the misuse of emerging technologies will increase the likelihood of collateral damage to civilian infrastructure during cyber conflict.

Despite mounting pressure, there is a false sense of confidence among organizations that remains surprisingly high the report added. Nearly eight in ten (79%) IT decision-makers say their organisation is prepared to handle a cyberwarfare attack, while 76% believe they are ready to mitigate AI-driven threats. This confidence is increasingly disconnected from reality.

More than half (54%) of organisations report they have already been impacted by an AI-generated or AI-led attack in the past 12 months, and half (50%) admit they have still been unable to adequately secure their environment post-attack. At the same time, two-thirds (66%) also agree that organisations continue to underestimate the resources required to defend against AI-powered threats, revealing a widening gap between perceived preparedness and actual resilience.

“False confidence absent contextual intelligence is a force multiplier for the adversary,” said Michael Freeman, head of threat intelligence at Armis. “In the era of AI-accelerated threats, nation-state actors exploit the gap between a defender’s perceived security and their actual exposure. Effective cyber exposure management does not just provide a ‘view’; it provides the ground truth required to eliminate blind spots and pre-emptively harden the attack surface before the first exploit is even launched.”

Additional key global findings from this year’s report include:

• 69% of IT decision-makers agree that a global reliance on AI will intensify the geopolitical stakes of cybersecurity.
• 68% also agree that the weaponization of AI will make cyber conflict a more persistent feature of global geopolitics.
• 64% say emerging technologies are making it harder to distinguish between espionage, cybercrime, and acts of war.
• 74% believe that cyberwarfare attacks will increase targeting institutions representing free press and independent thinking.
• 52% say ransomware payouts now exceed their annual cybersecurity budget.
• Average global ransomware payout in 2025: $11,610,000  /  £7,710,000  /  €8,440,000

For the UK geopolitical instability is further intensifying risks, as 80% of respondents said geopolitical tensions have increased the threat of cyberwarfare (up from 74% in 2025). Three-quarters said they are reconsidering suppliers and increasing cybersecurity investment as a direct result of rising geopolitical tensions, as 45% shared their organisation on its own lacks the necessary expertise to implement and manage AI-powered security solutions.

Despite a rising number of reported cyberwarfare attacks on UK businesses and 48% of UK respondents stating their organisation was impacted by an AI-generated or AI-led attack over the last year, 81% of respondents feel confident in their organisations’ ability to detect and respond to coordinated cyberattacks, exposing a clear disconnect between confidence and reality.

The cost of unpreparedness is mounting when considering ransomware payouts on top of recovery expenses. The average ransomware payment at companies with 1,000+ employees rose to £7.71 million in 2025. Most UK organisations are increasingly being forced to pay ransomware demands, as 44% of UK respondents admit their average ransomware payout now exceeds their annual cybersecurity budget.

“Cyberwarfare has moved from a distant geopolitical issue to a day-to-day business risk for UK organisations”, said Marc Jones, regional director, UK & Ireland at Armis. “When businesses are changing suppliers and reallocating budgets in response to geopolitical instability, it signals a shift from growth to defensive posture. The organisations that will navigate this successfully are those that move from reactive security to actively understanding, prioritising and reducing their cyber exposure before threats materialise.”

Despite mounting pressure, there is a false sense of confidence among organizations that remains surprisingly high the report added. Nearly eight in ten (79%) IT decision-makers say their organisation is prepared to handle a cyberwarfare attack, while 76% believe they are ready to mitigate AI-driven threats. This confidence is increasingly disconnected from reality.