The Cybersecurity Perception Gap: Why Executives And Practitio...

Does your organization suffer from a cybersecurity perception gap? Findings from the Bitdefender 2025 Cybersecurity Assessment suggest the answer is probably "yes" — and many leaders may not even realize it.

This disconnect matters. Small differences in perception today can evolve into major blind spots tomorrow. After all, perception influences what organizations prioritize, where they allocate resources, and how they respond in critical moments.

Bitdefender's latest assessment surveyed 1,200 cybersecurity and IT professionals, and at first glance, the results suggest optimism. An impressive 93% say they are "somewhat" or "very confident" in their ability to manage cyber risk as the attack surface expands.

Nearly half (45%) of C-level respondents — including CISOs and CIOs — describe themselves as "very confident" in their organization's readiness. Yet among mid-level managers, that number drops sharply to just 19%.

Executives, it seems, are more than twice as likely as operational teams to feel assured about their cybersecurity posture.

When leadership overestimates readiness, it can lead to underinvestment in people, processes, and technology. But perhaps it's not about who's right — rather, it's about how differently each group views the same landscape.

In a recent conversation with several Bitdefender cybersecurity experts, we explored what drives this perception gap — and why it persists across so many organizations.

Sean Nikkel, Team Lead at the Bitdefender Cyber Intelligence Fusion Cell, says it's no surprise that front-line professionals tend to have lower confidence in their organization's cyber resilience. They're the ones confronting risks up close.

"Think about what happens after a merger or acquisition," Nikkel explains. "Whatever risk the acquired company carried, you now inherit. You can go from 100% green to yellow overnight — legacy systems, forgotten shadow IT, outdated processes. Those details are often invisible to leadership but painfully clear to security teams."

Martin Zugec, Bitdefender Technical Solutions Director, agrees. "In my investigations, I often see a completely different version of cybersecurity than what's being discussed online," he says. "There's a gap between perception and reality — and that gap seems to be widening."

Source: The Hacker News