Security spending is growing — except for the typical CISO
infonews
policyindustry
Source: CSO OnlineSeptember 17, 2026
Summary
Security budgets grew by an average of 5% in 2026, but the median growth was 0%, meaning most CISOs (55%) saw flat or reduced budgets despite requesting increases. Most new security spending is going toward AI, with 69% of CISOs naming it their top priority, though only 24% track AI as a separate budget line, making it difficult to see how much money is actually being spent on securing AI systems (tools that learn from data to make decisions).
Classification
Attack SophisticationModerate
Monthly digest — independent AI security research
Original source: https://www.csoonline.com/article/4223455/security-spending-is-growing-except-for-the-typical-ciso.html
First tracked: September 17, 2026 at 02:00 PM
Classified by LLM (prompt v3) · confidence: 75%