The role of the Chief Information Security Officer has fundamentally shifted. Today’s CISO is not measured solely by incidents prevented, but by how effectively security enables growth, accelerates digital transformation, and protects customer trust.

Cybersecurity is now a business function. The CISO sits at the intersection of protection and progress.

Confidence Is High in Traditional Capabilities

Most organisations have strengthened their security foundations:

• Mature incident response processes
• Defined cyber resilience programs
• Improved collaboration between security and business teams

Industry research consistently reflects this progress. For example, the IBM Cost of a Data Breach Report shows organisations with mature response capabilities significantly reduce breach impact and cost (IBM, 2023). Likewise, the Verizon DBIR continues to highlight the value of strong detection and response maturity in limiting damage from common attack vectors.

As a result, many CISOs report high confidence in:

• Security operations
• Resilience planning
• Internal coordination and governance

Cybersecurity is increasingly viewed as a stabiliser and business enabler, not a blocker.

The AI Threat Readiness Gap

However, confidence drops when the conversation turns to AI-enabled threats.

Recent research from LevelBlue highlights a clear gap:

• ~60% of CISOs rate themselves highly competent in resilience and operations.
• Only 53% feel prepared to defend against AI-enabled adversaries.
• 45% expect their organisation to face AI-powered or deepfake attacks within 12 months.

This mismatch is critical.

The issue is not failure. It is velocity. The threat landscape is evolving faster than many security programs are adapting.

Why AI-Driven Attacks Change the Rules

AI transforms how attacks are:

• Planned- Automated reconnaissance and vulnerability discovery
• Executed- Highly personalised phishing generated at scale
• Scaled- Faster iteration and adaptation than traditional campaigns

Deepfake-enabled social engineering can undermine identity verification processes. AI-assisted fraud can bypass static detection rules. Generative AI can weaponise publicly available data in minutes.

According to the ACSC and the OAIC, human factors remain central to many breaches in Australia. AI amplifies this exposure by targeting people and processes, not just infrastructure.

Traditional controls built on known patterns struggle against adaptive, AI-driven attack chains.

What CISOs Should Be Doing Now

To close the gap, readiness must be redefined.

1. Update Threat Models Include AI-driven scenarios such as:

• Deepfake-enabled executive impersonation
• Automated credential harvesting
• AI-assisted reconnaissance and chaining

2. Test Against Modern Techniques Validate detection and response capabilities against realistic, current attacker behaviour, not legacy assumptions.

3. Strengthen Identity Controls Review verification processes with adversarial AI in mind. Assume voice, video, and written communication can be convincingly spoofed.

4. Increase External Visibility Attackers start with what they can see. Strengthen monitoring across:

• Externally exposed applications
• APIs
• Cloud infrastructure
• Third-party integrations

You cannot protect what you cannot see.

Security as a Proven Business Enabler

Security enables confident innovation when it is validated, not assumed.

By testing real-world exposure and simulating modern attack paths, CISOs gain clarity on:

• Where risk truly exists
• Which exposures are material
• Which investments reduce measurable business risk

This moves cybersecurity from cost centre to strategic enabler.

Cyber Node supports this approach through:

• External exposure assessments
• Penetration testing
• Strategic advisory services

The goal is not simply to identify vulnerabilities, but to help CISOs demonstrate defensible readiness to boards and executive leadership.

From Confidence to Proven Readiness

Confidence in cybersecurity foundations is important. But in the era of AI-driven threats, it is no longer sufficient.

The next generation of CISO leadership will be defined by those who move from assumed readiness to validated resilience.

The organisations that test, measure and adapt now will be the ones that protect trust, accelerate growth and lead with confidence in the AI era.

If you would like to assess your organisation’s exposure and strengthen your readiness against AI-driven threats, contact Cyber Node at sales@cybernode.au or visit https://www.cybernode.au — because confidence is good, but proven readiness is better.