How AI is widening the cybersecurity skills gap: Barracuda 2026 report

Security teams are being asked to defend expanding digital estates against AI-powered attacks, identity abuse and advanced phishing — often with fewer people and without the skills AI-era threats demand. The new Barracuda Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report quantifies the pressure and shows where organizations must rebuild capability. Softprom is the official distributor of Barracuda Networks.

What was announced

Barracuda Networks published the Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report 2026, based on a survey of 2,000 mid- to senior-level IT and security decision-makers in organizations with 100 to 2,000 employees across the US, UK, France, DACH, Benelux, the Nordics, Australia, India and Japan.

Key findings: 94% of organizations report cybersecurity skills gaps, 68% linked to AI-related risks and 67% to advanced identity and phishing threats, including business email compromise, OAuth abuse and MFA bypass. 67% say security teams are struggling to scale with evolving business needs, and 56% have reduced security headcount in connection with AI, split evenly between entry-level and senior roles.

The findings show how the impact of AI is changing the cybersecurity landscape faster than many security teams can build the necessary skills, visibility, and governance

Why this matters

For CIOs, CISOs and procurement leaders, the report highlights a widening gap between business expectations and security capacity. Half of respondents say security teams must support growing digital operations without additional resources, 40% say business expectations exceed team skills and tooling, and 32% can only protect the business reactively. 61% report shortages in strategic security leadership, including AI governance and translating technical risk into business impact.

Technical details

• Scope: 2,000 IT and security decision-makers, organizations with 100-2,000 employees.
• Skills gaps: 94% overall; 68% AI-related risks; 67% identity and phishing threats.
• AI impact on roles: 79% report AI already affects security roles or headcount; 56% experienced AI-linked workforce reductions.
• Operating model: 69% use a shared decision-making model where AI supports investigation while people retain final judgement.
• Priority skills: incident response, decision making under pressure, risk management, AI governance, identity security.
• Methodology: independent research by Arlington Research, covering the previous 12 months.

FAQ

What is the Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report 2026?

It is Barracuda Research's international study of 2,000 IT and security decision-makers examining how AI, identity-based attacks and expanding digital operations are reshaping security team skills and capacity.

How is AI changing security team structures?

79% of organizations say AI already affects security roles, and 56% report AI-linked headcount reductions. Most keep humans accountable for context and final decisions while AI supports investigation and analysis.

Which skills are most in demand according to Barracuda?

Incident response, decision making under pressure, risk management, AI governance, identity security, and strategic leadership that translates technical risk into business impact.

Softprom and Barracuda Networks

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Prepared by the Softprom editorial team based on vendor materials (Softprom DistriFlow). Source: original article.