Defence Online

New report highlights cyber vulnerabilities

Land February 10, 2026

New research published today indicates that 53% of national security organisations in the UK and US still rely on manual processes for transferring sensitive data, despite the accelerating pace of operations driven by artificial intelligence.

According to the CYBER360: Defending the Digital Battlespace report by Everfox, which surveyed 500 security leaders and IT decision-makers, this reliance on analog methods persists even as 84% of government officials acknowledge that sharing data across networks significantly heightens cyber risk. For businesses operating within the UK defence supply chain, these findings highlight a critical requirement for modernised secure communication technologies and high-assurance cybersecurity frameworks.

The report details an escalating threat landscape, noting that national security organisations faced an average of 137 attempted or successful cyberattacks per week in 2025, an increase from 127 per week in the previous year. While the surge was particularly pronounced in the US, where weekly attacks rose by 25%, the UK remains a primary target. The findings suggest that legacy systems are a major point of failure, with 78% of respondents citing outdated infrastructure as their primary source of cyber vulnerability. This creates a significant opening for sub-contractors and technology providers capable of delivering resilient, automated data-sharing solutions that can replace vulnerable manual protocols.

Several operational barriers were identified as major challenges for current defence networks. Specifically, 49% of security leaders cited the maintenance of data integrity and the prevention of tampering during transit as their most significant hurdle when transferring information across classified or coalition networks. Furthermore, 45% of those surveyed identified the management of identity and authentication across multiple domains as a primary obstacle to securing mission-critical data. These figures represent actionable pain points for developers of cryptographic solutions and identity management software, as the Ministry of Defence increasingly seeks technologies that ensure mission speed without compromising security.

To address these vulnerabilities, the research advocates for a shift away from traditional network-centric defences toward a multi-layered cybersecurity framework. This approach combines Zero Trust principles with Data-Centric Security (DCS) and Cross Domain Solutions (CDS). The goal is to facilitate near real-time data exchange across disparate mission systems while ensuring that security remains attached to the data itself rather than the network perimeter. For the UK defence industrial base, this transition underscores a long-term demand for innovations that support secure interoperability between allies and across domains, serving as a foundation for future operational resilience.

Read the full CYBER360: Defending the Digital Battlespace report here.

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Post written by: Vicky Maggiani

Vicky has worked in media for over 25 years and has a wealth of experience in editing and creating copy for a variety of sectors.