Assessing Cyber Risk Perception Among IT Professionals: Key Insights and Emerging Trends

Cyber risk perception is how IT professionals evaluate, respond and manage cyber threats in the organization. As cyber threats evolve (phishing, ransomware, AI attacks) understanding IT professionals’ risk perception is key to effective cyber strategies. This study looks at the top cyber risks as seen by IT professionals, their confidence in managing emerging threats and how organisational structures impact cyber decisions. Through surveys and polls we found that phishing (46%) and insider threats (22%) are the top concerns, 48% of respondents think cybersecurity should be a shared responsibility across the organisation. However only 48% of IT professionals are confident in their organisation’s ability to manage cyber threats, highlighting training, leadership involvement and resource allocation gaps. The study also looks at AI in cyber, 40% of respondents support AI driven security solutions, 24% are sceptical due to privacy and reliability concerns. We also found budget constraints (20%), lack of cyber education (22%), resistance to change (30%), staffing shortages (28%) as the top barriers to effective risk management. The findings suggest executive leadership involvement, continuous training and an organisational culture that puts cybersecurity first. The study contributes to the ongoing conversation on how to improve cyber resilience by aligning security strategies with IT professionals’ perception and addressing the human factors of cyber security.