Recent research by Absolute Security highlights the significant financial impact of downtime, averaging $19 million per hour when endpoint devices malfunction. Despite 88% of respondents believing that autonomous recovery capabilities could greatly minimize downtime costs, a mere 4% of organizations describe themselves as "broadly autonomous."
The newly published report, "Autonomous Cyber Resilience in the Era of AI," is the third installment in Absolute Security's series on Enterprise Cyber Resilience. Compiled using data from a Censuswide survey, this report captures insights from 1,000 Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) across the United States and the United Kingdom.
AI and Agentic Tools in Cybersecurity
Christy Wyatt, President & CEO of Absolute Security, explained, "Downtime is the real cost of a breach, it often exceeds every other related cost and is capable of permanently damaging a business." Wyatt emphasized the evolving threat landscape, where adversaries utilize AI and agentic tools to exploit vulnerabilities at unprecedented speeds. This necessitates that security and risk leaders adopt solutions as fast and effective as those used by attackers.
The report further outlines the current obstacles and trust issues hindering the adoption of autonomous security and recovery solutions. The goal is to close the capability gap by enabling cyber resilience that matches the speed of modern attack strategies. A notable finding is that 41% of organizations experienced AI-accelerated vulnerability exploitation over the past year. Additionally, 58% of security leaders acknowledged that AI-assisted attackers exploit vulnerabilities more quickly than existing patching processes can handle.
Barriers to Production-System Autonomy
Trust remains the barrier to achieving production-system autonomy, cited by 38% of respondents
Trust remains the barrier to achieving production-system autonomy, cited by 38% of respondents, followed by integration complexity (33%) and budget constraints (18%). When considering the risks of tools like Anthropic Mythos, 43% of respondents expressed concern, with 41% advocating for a ban until there is a better understanding of their operations. Conversely, 30% disagreed with this ban, and 29% had no opinion.
Wyatt continued, "Trust in autonomous solutions remains among the top barriers standing between enterprises and the recovery speed they need to minimize downtime. This research will help security leaders see the risk they're up against and give them the confidence needed to cross the bridge to autonomous recovery."
To learn more about how Absolute Security addresses the issue of downtime, meet their Cyber Resilience experts at the upcoming Black Hat 2026 event at Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, booth 5526.
Downtime costs reach $19 million per hour on average when endpoint devices become inoperable, according to Absolute Security’s latest research. This level of loss is especially alarming when considering that 88% reported that autonomous recovery capabilities would enable a measurable reduction in the cost of downtime incidents, while only 4% described their organizations as “broadly autonomous.”
Absolute Security, an Autonomous Cyber Resilience pioneer, publishes the third volume in its State of Enterprise Cyber Resilience research series: Autonomous Cyber Resilience in the Era of AI. The report features results from a survey conducted by Censuswide that includes 1,000 Chief Information Security Officers (CISOs) based in the United States (500) and the United Kingdom (500).
Leveraging AI and agentic tools
“Downtime is the real cost of a breach, it often exceeds every other related cost and is capable of permanently damaging a business,” said Christy Wyatt, President & CEO, Absolute Security. “With threat actors now leveraging AI and agentic tools to launch attacks and spot vulnerabilities at rates previously unimaginable, security and risk leaders are faced with either continuing to fall victim to costly disruptions or deploying solutions that operate with the same speed and efficiency as those being used against them.”
Revealed in the report are additional findings that highlight the state of autonomous security and recovery solutions in use and the trust challenges and barriers causing organizations to lag cybercriminals. This research suggests that closing that gap will require cyber resilience capable of detecting, responding to, and recovering from disruptions at the same speed as the attacks themselves. Among several top takeaways:
AI-accelerated vulnerability exploitation
Forty-one percent of organizations experienced AI-accelerated vulnerability exploitation in the past 12 months, with 58% of leaders in agreement that AI-assisted attackers are weaponising vulnerabilities faster than patching processes can address them.
For production-system autonomy, trust ranks as the top-cited barrier (38%), ahead of integration complexity (33%) and budget (18%). When asked whether Anthropic Mythos and similar tools presented too much risk for their organizations to consider using, 43% agreed, while 32% disagreed and 25% had no opinion. Further underscoring these concerns, 41% agreed the tools should be blocked within their organizations until more is known about how they work, while 30% disagreed and 29% had no opinion.
Production-system autonomy
"Trust in autonomous solutions remains among the top barriers standing between enterprises and the recovery speed they need to minimize downtime. This research will help security leaders see the risk they're up against and give them the confidence needed to cross the bridge to autonomous recovery," continued Wyatt.
To discover more about how Absolute Security stops downtime, meet the Cyber Resilience experts at Black Hat 2026, Mandalay Bay, Las Vegas, booth 5526.
