The Cyber Crisis Perception Gap: 4 Disconnects Between Frontline and C-Suite Cyber Leaders

Nine in ten frontline cybersecurity managers say attacks are growing more frequent, and 88% say they’re more severe over the past 12 months, yet far fewer C-suite cyber leaders share that urgency (77% and 65% respectively).

That disconnect isn’t just perception; it can lead to slower responses, misplaced budgets, weaker resilience, and ultimately, being unprepared when, not if, they're hit by a cyberattack.

The Top 4 Disconnects Between Frontline Cybersecurity Managers and the C-suite

• The frontline sees more attacks. 79% of managers say a successful cyberattack hit their organization in the past year, far higher than the 65% of C-suite cyber leaders who say the same. When the frontlines see more damage than the corner office, strategy and reality diverge.
• C-suite cyber leaders see a more sophisticated threat landscape than their teams may realize. 43% of C-suite cyber leaders say modern cybercriminals are more advanced than their internal teams, compared with only 12% of managers who say the same. The takeaway: Leadership sees that the organization is overmatched. The frontline doesn't. That doesn't bode well for the organization's security posture.
• Silence is risky, yet pervasive. 81% of managers admit at least 1 material cyber incident went unreported to leadership in the past year, compared with just over half (55%) of C-suite cyber leaders. That gap exposes a deeper issue: fear and lack of transparency inside cybersecurity teams.
• AI saves time, but priorities are misaligned. Both managers and C-suite cyber leaders say AI automation is freeing up time. Managers want to reinvest it in employee security awareness training and culture building (52%), and C-suite cyber leaders are focused on advanced threat hunting, emerging threat research, and intelligence analysis (49%), upskilling (48%), and developing custom security solutions and automation scripts (43%).  The opportunity: use AI not just to optimize workflows, but to align priorities.

The Outlook on Cyberattacks is Getting Bleaker YoY

The threat landscape isn’t just worsening, it’s accelerating. Compared with last year, both managers and C-suite cyber leaders report higher attack frequency and severity across the board.

• Deepfakes are top-of-mind for all levels. Deepfakes surged from a fringe to a frontline concern from 2024 to 2025, with the number of cybersecurity professionals reporting being least prepared for this type of attack rising from 3% to 21% among managers and from 6% to 28% among C-suite cyber leaders.
• Cybersecurity teams struggle to keep up with AI. Managers (62%) and C-suite cyber leaders (53%) cite AI-driven attacks as their top challenge, saying AI is creating new attack points they aren’t prepared for. Among C-suite cyber leaders, the biggest concerns cited center on generative or agentic AI–driven phishing (45%), generative AI model prompt hacking (44%), and AI-vishing (voice deepfakes) (43%), evidence of a rapidly widening GenAI threat landscape.
• Tech investments are lagging behind attacker tools, even if teams disagree on capability gaps. Both groups agree that their technology stack isn’t keeping pace with attacker innovation. 36% of C-suite cyber leaders and 38% of managers admit that the technology behind cyberattacks is more sophisticated than their own.

Bridging the Gap

VikingCloud’s findings reveal an urgent need for greater alignment across all levels.

• Invest where your teams align. Both groups agree AI can help close the gap. Invest in automation that frees up analysts to focus on threat hunting and incident response.
• Build a culture of safe reporting. Outside of job loss, managers cite a lack of clear internal reporting protocols or “safe channels” to report incidents without fear of immediate blame (52%) as a top reason they or their team would consider not reporting a cyber incident. C-suite cyber leaders fear punitive reactions from leadership or the board (37%). Build reporting processes that reward transparency.
• Foster cross-level collaboration. Frontline insight plus executive perspective equals faster, smarter defense. Schedule joint reviews of major incidents.
• Train the entire organization on AI and cyber risks. Only 36% of managers and 48% of C-suite cyber leaders say their organization has provided training on both GenAI and agentic AI cyber risks. Make it a 2026 mandate.

Bridging the perception gap isn’t optional; it’s a competitive differentiator. Organizations that align vision and visibility across every level will outpace threats, not just react to them.

About This Analysis

This analysis is based on data collected in 2025 as part of VikingCloud’s 2025 Cyber Threat Landscape study. It compares responses from cybersecurity managers and C-suite cyber leaders across the United States, the United Kingdom, and Ireland, as well as across various industries, including healthcare, retail, hospitality, restaurant and food service, and travel.