The vast majority of British and American cybersecurity professionals are worried about state-sponsored cyber-attacks, and a quarter (23%) say their biggest concern for the year ahead is a lack of preparedness for “geopolitical escalation or wartime cyber operations," according to research by IO.
The compliance software vendor polled 3000 cybersecurity managers in the US and UK to compile its State of Information Security Report 2025.
It revealed that mounting geopolitical tension and a growing number of high-profile threat campaigns from Russia, Iran, North Korea and China are establishing state-backed attacks as a major operational and strategic risk.
A third (33%) of respondents argued that their government is not doing enough to support them.
“When it comes to threats facing CNI, there is a significant national effort going into protecting vital assets,” said IO CEO, Chris Newton-Smith.
“However, at the same time, it also carries a stark warning. If an organization is connected to the right systems, servicing critical infrastructure, or simply handling sensitive data, it could be targeted by nation-state adversaries.”
Read more on state-sponsored attacks: New China-Aligned Hackers Hit State and Telecom Sectors.
The largest number of respondents (41%) cited concerns over data loss or inaccessibility, followed by reputational risk (40%), supply chain-based operational disruption (38%) and disruption to critical infrastructure (36%).
A third (35%) said they were worried about the security and availability of data hosted in regions considered to be major adversaries.
The findings chime with the World Economic Forum’s Global Risk Report 2025, which places state-based armed conflict as the biggest perceived risk today. Meanwhile, WEF’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2025 cited geopolitical tension and supply chain challenges as major risks.
Firms Are Building Resilience
The good news is that American and British security teams are taking action to head off these evolving risks.
IO's research found that 74% of cybersecurity leaders are actively investing in resilience measures to counter state-sponsored threats. Of those concerned about state attacks, 97% said they’re tailoring their incident response and recovery plans accordingly, increasing investment in threat intelligence, and improving the security and resilience of their supply chains.
“Organizations that understand their exposure, test their defenses, and secure their supply chains will be best placed to withstand the next wave of attacks,” argued Sam Peters, Chief Product Officer at IO.
“With the right preparation, collaboration, and robust compliance measures, we can collectively ensure that the infrastructure – and the businesses supporting it – are equipped to withstand even the most sophisticated attacks.”
Among the most notably state-backed attacks this year were the $1.5bn Bybit heist by North Korean actors, continued activity from the notorious Chinese Salt Typhoon group, and campaigns from Russian group Sandworm.