Arctic Wolf report highlights digital sovereignty and AI trust gaps

A new report from Arctic Wolf, based on a global survey of 1,350 IT and security decision-makers conducted by Sapio Research, highlights a growing emphasis on digital sovereignty and the complex role of artificial intelligence in cybersecurity.

In the UK, 92% of organizations consider digital sovereignty a critical component of their security strategy due to geopolitical uncertainty. Approximately 83% of UK respondents expressed increased confidence in providers with Security Operations Centres located in Europe. Geopolitical risks are actively shaping procurement, with 50% of UK respondents evaluating regional vendor risk, and 19% having already restricted purchases or changed vendors based on geography. China and Russia were identified as the primary perceived sources of cyber threats.

Regarding AI, adoption is nearly universal, with 94% of organizations using large language models. However, a gap exists between adoption and trust; while 94% say AI influences purchasing decisions, only 53% trust AI to perform even narrowly defined autonomous actions, such as blocking a malicious IP address. Primary concerns include data privacy, a lack of human intuition, and the risk of irreversible false positives. Interestingly, 35% of leaders now rank AI as their top cybersecurity risk, surpassing ransomware and malware.