In a nutshell: AI adoption is the primary driver of increased IT security budgets, while AI vulnerabilities and shadow AI emerge as new risk factors.
41 percent of large enterprises surveyed globally attribute higher IT security budgets to AI adoption. In parallel, risk awareness is growing: AI vulnerabilities and uncontrolled tools (shadow AI) are increasingly perceived as critical threats.
A Kaspersky study of 1,800 IT and cybersecurity decision-makers from 18 countries (including Germany) shows that AI implementation is the most important driver of rising security budgets. 81 percent of surveyed large enterprises are already evaluating or implementing internal AI tools based on large language models; 18 percent have already integrated these into their workflows.
As further budget drivers, 36 percent of companies cite costs from IT security breaches and 35 percent cite a recently experienced or narrowly prevented security incident. Among perceived threats, phishing dominates (22 percent) and large-scale malware attacks (20 percent); AI vulnerabilities follow at 19 percent. Organizations deploying internal AI solutions cite objectives of 59 percent each for higher process efficiency, fewer human errors, and better result quality.
A standalone risk arises from uncontrolled use of AI tools by the workforce (shadow AI): 31 percent of respondents see this as a frequent risk factor. Accordingly, 59 percent of organizations regulate such applications through requirements – such as bans on entering company data or internal documents. 23 percent permit unrestricted access but accompany this with training and security guidelines.
Source: www.it-daily.net · Published July 31, 2026
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