Cyber resilience confidence vs. capability gap: Are organizations prepared

The cyber threat landscape has never been more complex, yet a startling disconnect exists between how prepared organizations believe they are and their actual ability to withstand and recover from cyberattacks. The overconfidence crisis that’s putting organizations at risk Here’s the hard truth: a dangerous confidence-vs-capability gap is widespread in India’s cyber resilience landscape. In a recent report, 97% of Indian IT leaders say their cyber resilience measures are effective, yet 67% of Indian organizations experienced a cyber failure in the past 12 months.

Meanwhile, only about 7% of Indian organizations are adequately prepared to defend against modern, AI-driven threats.This divergence between how secure leaders feel and how resilient their organizations truly are, can turn into a liability during real attacks, leading to prolonged disruptions and lost momentum when business continuity matters most.

Why prevention isn’t enough: The recovery reality

Organizations often overemphasize prevention, 99% say they do- yet neglect recovery preparedness. This creates a dangerous blind spot. Modern cyber threats are increasingly sophisticated, and even the strongest defenses can be bypassed. When prevention fails, as it inevitably will, companies without mature recovery capabilities can suffer prolonged outages, data loss, and serious business impact.

In India, readiness is weak: only 7% of organizations are considered to have "mature" cybersecurity preparedness. Nearly 59% of Indian businesses expect a cyber breach in 2025. These figures underscore that prevention alone isn’t enough - resilience depends on how well you can recover when things go wrong.

The power of mature cyber resilience strategies

Despite these challenges, there is reason for optimism. The research identifies a clear path forward through what we call mature cyber resilience strategies. Organizations with comprehensive, continuously optimized approaches are nearly three times more likely to recover successfully from cyber incidents. What sets them apart? They’ve moved beyond basic measures to build integrated frameworks across three essential pillars. 

Mature organizations understand that security starts at the hardware level. They are 2x more likely to protect devices with firmware/BIOS-level controls, creating a trusted foundation across the IT stack. They also enforce encryption for data at rest and in transit, apply strict access controls, and ensure data immutability so that backups cannot be altered or deleted by malicious actors. This layered approach doesn’t just prevent attacks—it ensures that recovery efforts begin with trusted, high-integrity data.

Visibility remains a critical challenge, with many organizations struggling to detect threats across all infrastructure layers. Mature organizations are leveraging AI and ML-powered tools to enhance detection and response, spotting threats human analysts might miss and acting faster than manual processes allow. These capabilities also help maintain clean, trustworthy backup and recovery data. Critically, they form the foundation for sovereign AI ensuring that AI workloads run on secure, accountable, and fully controlled data environments, even amid evolving cyber threats. 

Recovery is where strategies meet real-world results. Mature organizations are 2.3x more likely to consistently meet their SLAs in recovery scenarios. This comes from frequent testing and deliberate preparation. Organizations that conduct regular recovery drills build team muscle memory, identify gaps before they matter, and instill confidence in recovery processes. Cyber vaults add another safeguard. By isolating critical data in a logically or physically separated environment, vaults provide an immutable, tamper-resistant recovery source. When combined with testing, they ensure fast, reliable restoration—even against destructive attacks like ransomware.

Your path to cyber resilience excellence

The confidence-capability gap doesn’t have to define your story. The research shows that with the right approach, significant improvements are achievable.

• Secure: Implement BIOS-level controls, data encryption, access controls, and immutability.

• Detect: Move beyond traditional tools and adopt AI/ML-driven detection for real-time visibility.

• Recover: Regularly test recovery processes and leverage cyber vaults for assured restoration.

Technology that drives progress forward

The future of cyber resilience lies in integrated solutions powered by AI and ML. These platforms don’t just store data—they protect it, monitor it, and help organizations recover quickly. Enterprise-grade protection is no longer reserved for the largest companies; modern solutions make advanced resilience accessible to all. 

Take action today: Your resilience journey starts now

Strengthening cyber resilience isn’t just about protecting data: it’s also about safeguarding the foundation for sovereign AI, ensuring that critical workloads remain secure, trustworthy, and under your control. The technology exists. The strategies are proven. The question is: will your organization close the gap and build truly resilient, sovereign AI-enabled operations before the next disruption strikes?

Venkat Sitaram