OVER 60% of information technology (IT) leaders from companies worldwide said they are not adequately equipped against more sophisticated forms of cybercrime, a study by Lenovo found, highlighting a security gap amid the increase in attacks driven by artificial intelligence (AI).
Lenovo’s third Work Reborn Research Series report titled “Reinforcing the Modern Workplace” said 65% of IT leaders admitted that their current capabilities are outdated and unable to withstand AI-enabled threats, and only 31% said they feel confident about defending against these kinds of cybercrime.
The company surveyed 600 enterprise IT leaders from companies with at least 1,000 employees and from a range of sectors in April and May, with respondents coming from the United States (17%), Canada, the United Kingdom, France, Germany, India, Japan, Singapore, Brazil, Mexico (8% each), Australia (4%), and New Zealand (4%).
The report also showed that 90% of IT leaders are not very confident in their ability to address the risks arising from cybercriminals using AI.
“AI has changed the balance of power in cybersecurity. To keep up, organizations need intelligence that adapts as fast as the threats. That means fighting AI with AI,” said Rakshit Ghura, vice-president & general manager, Lenovo Digital Workplace Solutions. “With intelligent, adaptive defenses, IT leaders can protect their people, assets, and data while unlocking AI’s full potential to drive business forward.”
Lenovo said that while AI is enabling businesses to improve their operational efficiency, the rapid development of these technologies has also fueled advancements in cyberattacks.
“The advance of generative AI has supercharged cybercriminal strategies, enabling hyper-agile attacks. Modern AI-driven threats can mimic legitimate behavior, mutate to avoid detection, and span multiple domains — from cloud to endpoints, applications, and data repositories,” it said.
“This underscores the critical need for enterprises to adopt AI-driven strategies that can counter threats that learn, adapt, and evolve in real time.”
Among the top concerns of enterprise IT leaders are AI-powered external threats, including malware, phishing, and deepfakes that are faster, more convincing, and harder to detect.
AI has also increased insider risks, it said. “70% of IT leaders surveyed see employee misuse of AI as a major risk, and more than 60% say AI agents create a new class of insider threat they are unprepared to manage.”
It added that AI models, training data, and prompts have become high-value targets for cybercriminals that need to be protected to avoid manipulation and compromise.
Lenovo said it is important to secure AI-enabled workspaces to enable businesses to harness the benefits of their investments in these technologies.
“[When] organizations trust their AI security foundations, they unlock productivity, lower costs, and accelerate adoption of AI-powered digital workplace solutions,” it said.
“With AI tools proliferating beyond IT’s visibility and attackers exploiting gaps traditional systems can’t recognize, Lenovo is delivering the AI-powered defenses enterprises need to close the gap, turning risk into resilience and enabling workplaces that are protected, productive, and future-ready,” Mr. Ghura said.
Businesses must recognize emerging AI threats from external sources and re-evaluate their security systems and reduce human vulnerabilities, Lenovo said.
They should also identify weak points in their in-house AI systems and practices by establishing clear AI usage policies, auditing access rights, and securing their AI development lifecycle.
To do these, businesses need to address barriers to integrating AI with cybersecurity, which the leaders surveyed said include complex IT environments, the lack of skilled cybersecurity staff, and cost or budget constraints.
Lenovo said its offerings include AI-native defenses that are designed to spot threats earlier, adapt in real time, and scale across the modern workplace, even at the device level.
Its Digital Workplace Solutions aim to improve cyber resilience through Lenovo Security Services with ThinkShield that deliver protection for endpoints, data, applications, and employees at enterprise scale.
“Lenovo Cyber Resiliency as a Service offers managed services to help organizations monitor, detect, and respond to cyber incidents, reducing downtime and strengthening resilience,” it added. — BVR
