Cyber Threat Landscape Report
THE DISTRIBUTED ENTERPRISE ILLUSION
83% feel secure. 86% were still attacked.
For brands with franchised locations, one corporate security mandate makes an attack 3x more likely to stay where it started.
Confident at the center.
Exposed at the edge.
attacked in the past 12 months.
of attacks spread beyond where it started.
hid a cybersecurity incident from leadership.
47%
say a breach would cost $11M+.
77%
of attacks spread to other locations.
Attacked is just the start.
Share of leaders who say each attack type grew more frequent or severe in the past year:
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01 · Fragmentation
Same brand.
Different security standards.
Who sets the cybersecurity policy, and who follows it:
51%
Enforce one standard everywhere.
33%
Set the standard, but let locations apply it their way.
15%
Let each location write its own.
Day one is an open door.
80%
Open a new location before security monitoring reaches it.
84%
Credential attacks
88%
Ransomware
85%
Malware-free intrusion
87%
AI phishing & deepfakes
02 · Blast Radius
Every threat vector
is rising.
Share of leaders who say each attack type grew more frequent or severe in the past year:
Three new doors.
have briefed the board on AI risk.
vet AI tools before a location adopts them.
had a location hit by a deepfake.
Executive leadership is the last to know.
Top reason: fear of professional repercussions.
had a material incident that never reached leadership.
say five or more went unreported.
Who pays isn't who governs.
A 27-point gap: headquarters owns the ransom decision for rules it doesn't set.
Decide whether to pay the ransom.
Set the security policy.
Five steps to implement governance:
Set one standard, make it mandatory.
Don't wait for visibility.
Cover new locations on day one.
Make escalation safe.
Know when to bring in help.
You cannot monitor your way out of a blast radius. You have to govern.
Kevin Pierce
President and Chief Operations Officer, VikingCloud