SECTION 4

Lost in translation

Bridging the CISO-Board divide in 2026

The operational inefficiency of boardroom buy-in

No matter how advanced the threat or the tool, one of the biggest sticking points for today’s security leaders is not just stopping attacks but telling the right story to the board.

Translating cyber reality into business language is at the heart of organizational resilience. But when the story is drowned out by fragmented data sets, siloed dashboards, and misaligned priorities, real risk falls through the reporting cracks.

Half (50%) of all CISOs now say that proving controls’ effectiveness — especially to leadership or auditors — is a major and disruptive challenge. The process is slow and overly complex, especially for transforming data into clear, actionable insights.

One third of the working week

is dedicated to collecting, analysing, and presenting security data.

Challenges faced when preparing reports

Teams dedicate 34% of their week — over 1,300 hours for the average team — to just collecting, analysing, and presenting data. That means every third working hour is about pulling data, mapping metrics, and assembling slide decks. And as pressure continues to build on budgets and talent, every lost hour is a lost chance to build resilience.

Barriers to creating reports

Challenges for senior cybersecurity leaders include:

Data fragmentation:

Wrangling numbers from multiple sources, often with different priorities and formats.

Manual processes:

Chasing data by hand wastes time

Complex environments:

63% say keeping pace in IT and cloud environments makes operational oversight even harder

Turning technical risk into strategic priorities:

Reports often lack alignment with board-level priorities

Boardroom blind spots center on the value of cybersecurity

When it’s time to face the board, it’s a sea of charts, bullet points, and percentages, all made in the hope of getting buy-in for the next budget or technology upgrade.

Most reporting follows a standard formula of breaches, risk posture, and emerging threats. Less than a third (32%) of CISOs share ROI data, a clear sign that the value of cyber programmes is getting lost.

What type of information do you provide to your board when reporting cyber risk?

The biggest board-level misconception is that the CISO’s sole role is to prevent every single cyber attack, rather than understanding that their job is to manage cyber risk in alignment with business goals.

Leadership confidence at a low

The gap between the security team and the boardroom remains stubbornly wide. Only 38% of CISOs say they are truly confident that cybersecurity reports to the board, risk teams, and regulators are clear and comprehensive.

It’s driven by nearly half (48%) of security leaders are struggling to link control performance with business impact. Security teams can see the threats, but too often fail to make them real or urgent in business terms. Senior management may scan breach stats or compliance numbers, but miss why these matter for growth, trust, or brand protection.

These boardroom misconceptions are leaving organizations worryingly exposed. 43% of CISOs say the biggest barrier to true resilience is senior executives who don’t fully understand or appreciate why cyber resilience matters.

As one CISO described, “The biggest misconception at the executive level is viewing the CISO as purely an IT problem-solver. In reality, the CISO’s role extends far beyond technology and is about aligning cybersecurity with business strategy, managing enterprise risk, protecting brand reputation, and ensuring long-term resilience.”

Biggest gaps in board understanding of cyber risk

Many executives view the CISO as merely a tech expert responsible for implementing security tools and solutions. However, the CISO’s role encompasses strategic leadership, risk management, compliance, business enablement, and communication.

MAIN TAKEAWAY

No board buys-in for what they cannot understand

Senior cybersecurity leaders are not only fighting threats, but also navigating persistent organizational and stakeholder issues. Executive buy-in, effective business communication, and systemic changes in reporting are increasingly vital for real progress, yet remain incomplete or misunderstood across the CISO landscape.

How to improve board-level communication

Invest in clear metrics and cyber storytelling by bringing all data together into one cohesive platform that transforms disparate data into actionable insights. Analyse data and prioritize risk by business function to reframe cyber risk as business impact to drive board buy-in and action.