{"id":196919,"date":"2026-03-18T04:04:00","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T08:04:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/intruder-releases-its-latest-cybersecurity-report\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T04:55:15","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T08:55:15","slug":"intruder-releases-its-latest-cybersecurity-report","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/03\/18\/intruder-releases-its-latest-cybersecurity-report\/","title":{"rendered":"Intruder releases its latest cybersecurity report"},"content":{"rendered":"

Intruder releases its latest cybersecurity report<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/securityjournaluk.com\/intruder-latest-cybersecurity-report\/<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-03-18 04:04:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: securityjournaluk.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points.
\nIntruder has released its\u00a0Security Middle Child Report.<\/p>\n

The company said that its latest report has uncovered that almost half of cybersecurity leaders at midmarket businesses \u2013 companies with at least $50M revenue and between 400-6000 employees \u2013 say they don\u2019t have the right technology solutions, leaving them stuck in what Intruder calls the \u201csecurity middle child problem.\u201d<\/p>\n

According to the company, 46% say enterprise platforms assume more staff, budget or complexity than they can\u00a0support\u00a0and 29% say SME tools no longer meet their needs. <\/p>\n

As a result of these poor fits, 42% describe their teams as either stretched, overwhelmed or consistently behind.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0Midmarket companies<\/p>\n

Midmarket companies\u00a0represent\u00a0a core\u00a0component\u00a0of the US economy.\u00a0JP Morgan Chase & Co. estimates\u00a0that segment\u00a0consists of approximately 300,000 businesses generating $13T in annual revenue and employs over 40 million people within the US alone. <\/p>\n

Despite its importance, Intruder\u2019s research shows how the cybersecurity vendor market is not adequately serving the midmarket \u2013 leaving teams with limited visibility into\u00a0what\u2019s\u00a0exposed (28%), too many tools to navigate (26%), and struggling to prioritise (24%).<\/p>\n

\u201cJust as important\u201d<\/p>\n

Chris Wallis, CEO and\u00a0founder of Intruder said: \u201cMidmarket companies are being treated as\u00a0the middle\u00a0child when it comes to cybersecurity solutions. <\/p>\n

\u201cThey are overlooked by vendors focused on Fortune 500s or SMBs, while they are just as important and just as vulnerable to attackers.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a structural problem, the majority of solutions available to midmarket security teams were never built for the position they\u2019re now in.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

Cybersecurity leaders claim to feel confident and in control, but cracks are showing<\/p>\n

Midmarket security leaders defy the stereotype of an overworked, underfunded team. 89%\u00a0report\u00a0increasing budgets. Around 70% say headcount has kept pace with their digital estate.<\/p>\n

64% feel their posture scaled appropriately with growth. 94% are confident in their ability to\u00a0identify\u00a0and remediate critical risks before attackers exploit them while 51% are \u201cvery confident.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

But dig beneath those numbers and cracks appear. <\/p>\n

65% of C-suite respondents are\u00a0very confident\u00a0in their ability to catch critical threats, but that drops sharply among those closer to the actual work: Directors at 55%, Senior Managers at 46%, and Middle Managers at 35%.<\/p>\n

The further you are from the coalface, the more confident you are.<\/p>\n

One major concern is that 51% of respondents say it would take\u00a0approximately a\u00a0week to assess their exposure to a critical zero-day.<\/p>\n

In a threat landscape where exploitation can follow disclosure within 24-48 hours, a week is too long.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Midmarket digital estates are growing while teams are feeling strained\u00a0<\/p>\n

91% of respondents say their digital estate grew over the past 24 months and 38% say it grew significantly.<\/p>\n

While many teams responsible for securing that estate are growing with it,\u00a0a large portion\u00a0are\u00a0lagging behind: only 30% of organisations grew headcount faster than their digital estate, 17% grew more slowly and\u00a0nearly 10%\u00a0stayed flat.<\/p>\n

That gap has a human cost.<\/p>\n

41% reported their teams are dealing with feelings of strain: 21% say they are stretched but coping, 11% feel overwhelmed and stuck in a reactive mode and 9% are consistently behind and exposed.<\/p>\n

36% of respondents acknowledge their security posture\u00a0hasn\u2019t\u00a0scaled appropriately with digital estate growth.<\/p>\n

For 14%, that gap\u00a0won\u2019t\u00a0close for at least another six months. <\/p>\n

However, only 17% are prioritising\u00a0headcount\u00a0this year.<\/p>\n

The dominant investment priorities are AI and automation (49%) and adding\u00a0new solutions\u00a0(33%) \u2013 suggesting security leaders are reaching for technology to compensate for people.<\/p>\n

The data suggests this\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0working: 44% describe a stack that is either outgrown or fragmented.<\/p>\n

The pressure\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0evenly distributed. Healthcare shows the most strain \u2013 only 51% kept headcount at pace with their digital estate, and 26% grew more slowly. <\/p>\n

In SaaS, that figure rises to 86%, with only 10% growing more slowly. The gap is striking in healthcare given the stakes involved.<\/p>\n

Current tech solutions\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0meeting their needs<\/p>\n

44% of teams have either outgrown their stack or stitched it together from point solutions that\u00a0don\u2019t\u00a0provide\u00a0a unified view.<\/p>\n

This has a cost: 26% cite navigating too many security tools as a top challenge, 24% cite too many alerts with poor prioritisation, and 20% cite the inability to measure and report on cyber hygiene.<\/p>\n

The stack\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0just complex \u2013\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0actively getting in the way. <\/p>\n

With 33% planning to add more solutions this year, the fragmentation is likely to deepen.<\/p>\n

Underpinning this is a vendor market that\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0built for the midmarket. 46% say enterprise platforms assume more staff, budget, or complexity than they can support. <\/p>\n

29% say SME tools no longer meet their needs. Midmarket teams\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0failing to use\u00a0the right tools.\u00a0It\u2019s\u00a0that the right tools\u00a0largely\u00a0haven\u2019t\u00a0existed for them.<\/p>\n

41% of respondents report using AI\u00a0pentesting, and it appears in the top five most-adopted tools for fintech, manufacturing, and retail. <\/p>\n

Given the category only\u00a0emerged\u00a012-18 months ago,\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0unclear whether teams are using true AI\u00a0pentesting\u00a0or applying the term more loosely. <\/p>\n

The intent is clear:\u00a0Nearly half\u00a0(49%) cite AI and automation as their top investment priority for 2026, suggesting security leaders are looking to AI to help them do more with less.<\/p>\n

That said, AI\u00a0pentesting\u00a0only breaks into the top five for organisations with $500M+ revenue \u2013 implying\u00a0it\u2019s\u00a0currently most accessible to companies with the most resources. <\/p>\n

Adoption also increases with team size: 49% of organisations with 11+ security staff report using it, versus just 25% of teams with 2-5 people.<\/p>\n

For the smallest, most stretched teams AI is supposed to help, do existing solutions risk adding complexity rather than relieving pressure?<\/p>\n

Cyber risk\u00a0isn\u2019t\u00a0a boardroom conversation<\/p>\n

Despite growing digital estates, an increasing frequency of high-profile breaches, and signs that security posture is struggling to keep\u00a0pace,\u00a0cyber-risk\u00a0remains\u00a0largely below\u00a0the boardroom.<\/p>\n

Only 9% discuss cyber risk at board level. 34% reach executive leadership.<\/p>\n

The majority (51%) keep it at security\/IT leadership only and 7% confine it to the security team alone.<\/p>\n

\u201cConfidence highest where visibility is lowest\u201d<\/p>\n

Dan Andrew, Head of Security at Intruder explained: \u201cThe data in this report\u00a0doesn\u2019t\u00a0point to a single problem. <\/p>\n

\u201cIt points to four compounding ones: Estates growing faster than teams, confidence highest where visibility is lowest, stacks that are increasingly fragmented. <\/p>\n

\u201cAnd the relevant conversations\u00a0aren\u2019t\u00a0reaching the people who need to hear it.<\/p>\n

\u201cUntil that changes, the gap between how these teams present themselves and how they actually operate will keep widening.\u201d<\/p>\n

Organisations interested in reviewing the full Security Middle Child Report can find it for\u00a0download here. <\/p>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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