Proofpoint 2026 Voice of the CISO Report Finds Cyber Resilience Improving, While AI Expands the CISO Mandate
Proofpoint's 2026 survey of 1,600 CISOs finds improving cyber resilience, rising human risk, and expanding AI responsibilities without added resources.
Proofpoint released its 2026 Voice of the CISO report, a Censuswide-conducted survey of 1,600 CISOs across 16 countries fielded in May 2026. Expected material cyberattacks fell from 76% to 61% year over year and material data loss declined from 66% to 53%, but 79% of CISOs now identify human risk as their biggest vulnerability and GenAI security concerns jumped 18 points to 78%. The report also finds 79% of CISOs expect to manage AI-related risks without proportional resources, and 85% say boards are evaluating cyber risk through a commercial lens.
Proofpoint Expands AI-Powered Investigations to Microsoft 365 and Deepens Insider Risk Visibility into AI Activity
Proofpoint expands AI-powered investigations into Microsoft 365 and adds AI interaction visibility to insider risk investigations.
Proofpoint announced that Prism Investigator will connect directly to Microsoft 365 email, Teams, and files without requiring archived content, expected in Q4 2026. Human Communications Intelligence agents will incorporate AI communications governance signals, capturing interactions with copilots and AI agents, into Insider Threat Management. The vendor positions these as part of a unified platform for data security, insider risk, and communications governance.
Why 2026 is the Year to Upgrade to an Agentic AI SOC
Elastic Security Labs argues 2026 is the production inflection point for agentic AI in security operations centers.
Elastic Security Labs argues 2026 is the practical inflection point for agentic AI SOCs, noting nearly two-thirds of organizations are experimenting with AI agents while fewer than one in four have production deployments. The piece outlines operational challenges and recommendations: treat agents as non-human identities with least-privilege tool access, version-control system prompts as code, deploy unified agents with on-demand task packages, and enforce per-agent budgets and rate limits. It stresses explainability via RAG and transparent reasoning traces so analysts can verify and override autonomous decisions.
Microsoft Offers $60,000 Bounty for Critical Cross-Tenant Vulnerabilities
Microsoft expands Dynamics 365 and Power Platform bug bounty, paying up to $60,000 for critical cross-tenant vulnerabilities.
Microsoft expanded its bounty incentives for Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, with qualifying rewards from $1,250 to $60,000. Critical cross-tenant vulnerabilities receive a 100% award multiplier and important ones 50%, while critical AI inference manipulation or inferential disclosure can earn up to $30,000. Scope covers Dynamics 365 apps, Power Apps, Power Automate, Copilot Studio, Power Pages, Dataverse, and selected on-premises products. Reports must be rated Critical or Important and submitted via the MSRC Researcher Portal.
Your employees are already using AI tools you never approved
OneTrust report: 74% of organizations have scaled AI adoption, but only 17% embed governance by design and agent use outpaces oversight.
OneTrust's 2026 AI-Ready Governance Report finds 74% of respondents report departmental or scaled AI adoption, yet only 17% report governance embedded by design and just 5% have coordination and accountability defined across the AI lifecycle. Nearly half experienced at least one incident in the past year where AI systems or agents took unapproved actions, with data loss, corruption, and misclassification cited as the most likely and least prepared-for risks. 33% say employees used unapproved AI tools because approved options were not available quickly enough, and 98% plan to increase AI governance technology budgets next financial year.
Microsoft Offers Up to $30,000 for Critical AI Flaws in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform
Microsoft expands AI bug bounty to Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, paying up to $30,000 for critical inference manipulation flaws.
Microsoft's bug bounty program offers up to $30,000 for critical 'Inference Manipulation' or 'Inferential Information Disclosure' bugs in Dynamics 365 and Power Platform, including Copilot Studio, AI Builder, Power Apps, Power Automate, and Dataverse. Payouts scale by report quality ($30,000/$20,000/$12,000 for critical) with important-severity AI flaws earning $6,000-$20,000, plus 20% multipliers for Dataverse privilege escalation and Plugin Sandbox escapes. Prompt injection affecting only the attacker, hallucinated execution, and system-prompt disclosure are excluded from scope.
AI adoption brings new security headaches for already stretched CISOs
Proofpoint's 2026 Voice of the CISO report finds 79% of CISOs must manage AI-related risks without added resources or expertise.
Proofpoint's 2026 Voice of the CISO report says AI governance is expanding CISO responsibilities faster than resources, with 79% expected to manage AI-related risks without proportional support. Seventy-eight percent of CISOs consider GenAI a security risk, chiefly customer data loss through public AI platforms, and 61% expect a targeted attack within 12 months, down from 76% in 2025. Human risk remains the top vulnerability for 79% of respondents, and 93% of organizations with material data loss said departing employees played a role. Cloud account takeover now tops perceived threats, while email fraud, ransomware and malware declined in the rankings.
CISOs are feeling the security burden of accelerated AI use
Proofpoint's Voice of the CISO survey finds 85% of CISOs prioritizing AI security, with 80% managing AI risks without proportional resources.
Proofpoint's annual Voice of the CISO report, a Censuswide survey of 1,600 CISOs across 16 countries, found 85% rank securing AI assistants, copilots and automation among top priorities for the next two years. Eight in ten say they must manage AI-related security risk without a proportional increase in resources or expertise, and 78% now consider generative AI a major security risk, up 18% year over year. Board alignment improved to 85%, though nearly 80% still report excessive board pressure; 80% cite human behavior as the biggest cyber vulnerability.
Shadow AI in Financial Services | Risk & Governance
Huntress warns financial services firms that unsanctioned 'Shadow AI' tool use creates data leakage and compliance risks faster than governance controls can keep pace.
Huntress argues Shadow AI — employee use of unapproved AI tools such as ChatGPT and Microsoft Copilot — is spreading across financial services faster than visibility and controls. Uploading regulated customer data into public generative models risks breaches of client confidentiality, data protection rules, and market conduct obligations. The piece recommends secure web gateways, DNS filtering, DLP, application allowlisting, and corporate SSO/MFA for approved tools rather than outright bans, which can push usage onto personal devices.