European cybersecurity teams are facing an increase in attacks, while budgets and staffing levels fail to keep pace. This is according to ISACA’s State of Cyber 2026 report. Meanwhile, AI is rapidly gaining ground within security teams, although preparation for AI-related incidents remains significantly behind.
According to ISACA’s research, based on surveys of nearly 1,900 professionals worldwide, including 494 in Europe, 38 percent of European IT and cybersecurity professionals report experiencing more attacks than last year. Nevertheless, more than half of organizations remain understaffed (56 percent) and underfunded (55 percent).
Stress and staffing shortages are increasing
More than half of the professionals surveyed (54 percent) expect a cyberattack against their organization within the coming year. Cybercriminals and hackers are at the root of 39 percent of incidents, with social engineering being the most common form of attack at 46 percent. These attacks are increasingly being supported by AI.
This combination of factors is weighing heavily on teams: 72 percent say their job is more stressful than five years ago. Cited causes include the increasingly complex threat landscape (72 percent), unrealistic expectations and workload (57 percent), and insufficiently trained personnel (35 percent). Yet, 21 percent of companies are taking no action against burnout, although others do offer flexible working hours (55 percent) or encourage employees to take time off (46 percent).
AI is gaining ground, but governance is lagging behind
The use of AI within cybersecurity operations is growing strongly. Nearly four in ten organizations (37 percent) use AI for automated detection and response, an increase of eight percentage points compared to 2025. Endpoint security (29 percent) and routine security tasks (35 percent) are also increasingly being automated with AI.