Key points:
- Many report a significantly more cyberattacks compared with a year ago
- Why higher education must embrace zero trust now
- Why access control must be higher education’s top cybersecurity priority
- For more news on cyber resilience, visit eCN’s Cybersecurity hub
Public sector and higher education organizations are responding to a rapidly evolving cyber threat landscape as artificial intelligence accelerates both innovation and cyber risk, according to the 2026 Spotlight Report: Cyber Resilience and Business Impact in US State and Local Government and Higher Education (US SLED) from LevelBlue.
The findings reveal that US SLED organizations expect a rise in AI-powered attacks, deepfakes, and synthetic identity attacks in 2025; however, many are not prepared for them. Only 28 percent of executives say their organization is prepared for AI-powered threats, even though 45 percent expect such attacks to occur. Similarly, just 33 percent feel prepared for deepfake and synthetic identity attacks despite 42 percent anticipating them.
At the same time, nearly half (46 percent) report experiencing a significantly higher volume of cyberattacks compared with a year ago, and 29 percent say their organization has suffered a breach in the past 12 months. Concerns around data security and privacy remain the biggest challenge, cited by 57 percent of US SLED executives. Meanwhile, nearly half (44 percent) report very low to moderate visibility into their software supply chain.
In response to these threats, many organizations are working to embed cybersecurity more deeply into strategic decision-making. The research shows progress in aligning cybersecurity with broader business goals: 70 percent of executives say their cybersecurity teams are aligned with lines of business, and 62 percent report that leadership roles are now measured against cybersecurity KPIs.
“Cyber resilience is becoming a critical operational priority for government and higher education organizations responsible for safeguarding sensitive data and essential services,” said LevelBlue Chief Security & Trust Officer Kory Daniels. “While it’s encouraging to see stronger alignment between cybersecurity teams and business leadership, our research highlights a gap between the threats organizations expect and their level of preparedness. Building resilience requires a proactive strategy that spans technology, culture, and leadership engagement.”
Research also shows that cybersecurity is increasingly being discussed at the highest levels of leadership. More than one-third (38 percent) of US SLED organizations say they are prioritizing greater boardroom engagement in cyber-resilience discussions over the next 12 months. At the same time, only 37 percent currently allocate cybersecurity budgets to new initiatives from the outset, indicating that many organizations are still working to fully integrate security into innovation planning.
Significant areas of additional cyber resilience investment from US SLED organizations include:
- Cyber-resilience processes across the business (34 percent)
- Generative AI defenses against social engineering attacks (30 percent)
- Machine learning for pattern matching (28 percent)
- Advanced threat detection technologies (27 percent)
The report also highlights a growing reliance on external expertise to strengthen cyber resilience. Over the next two years, 37% of organizations expect to engage cybersecurity consultants to help navigate the evolving threat landscape, while 45% anticipate working with incident response specialists to prepare for and manage potential breaches.
Based on these findings, LevelBlue recommends four specific steps to strengthen cyber resilience: elevating cyber resilience as a leadership priority, fostering a cyber-aware organizational culture, taking a proactive and intentional approach to security investments, and prioritizing software supply chain resilience through stronger supplier verification and continuous risk assessments.
This report follows the April 2025 release of the 2025 LevelBlue Futures Report: Cyber Resilience and Business Impact, which can be found here.
This press release originally appeared online.
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