Cyber security: from compliance requirement to competitive edge

The report indicates that approaches to resilience have moved beyond compliance for leaders, to consider digital autonomy and sovereignty. This important shift is expected to build greater resilience against increasing cyber security threats.

Equally important, however, it’s also expected to be a competitive advantage for businesses to have a better understanding of technology dependencies and generate more trust among their customers and clients, supply chain, insurers and investors, and key stakeholders.

Expert insights from cyber security leaders, AI specialists and economists across Forvis Mazars’ international network, alongside findings taken from 3,000+ business leaders across 40 countries in its latest C-suite barometer, show: 

• There are now more than 100 digital-related acts and directives across the European regulatory landscape, creating growing complexity for multinational organisations. 

• AI-assisted cyber detection and response can reduce the average cost of a breach by approximately 10%, equivalent to around US$1.5 million per incident. 

• AI is creating an arms race between attackers and defenders, with agentic AI increasingly capable of automating attack chains. 

• Cyber maturity is becoming a competitive differentiator in tenders, procurement processes and third-party risk assessments. 

Organisations must begin preparing today for quantum-era threats, including the increasing “steal now, decrypt later” attacks. 

• Security by design is becoming an essential business practice rather than a technical best practice. 

Wadi Mseddi, head of cyber security at Forvis Mazars Group, said cyber security “is entering a new era in which security performance increasingly influences customer trust, procurement decisions, investment attractiveness and long-term business growth. However, many organisations remain trapped in a compliance mindset at a time when resilience in cyber security can be a key business differentiator. Organisations that continue to treat it defensively as a compliance exercise risk falling behind in an increasingly volatile digital economy.” 

While organisations around the world face mounting cyber threats, the report highlights a convergence of wider pressures that are reshaping how leaders consider risk and resilience: 

• AI is accelerating both cyber-attacks and cyber defence capabilities. 

• Regulatory requirements are becoming increasingly fragmented across jurisdictions. 

• Supply chain and third-party risks continue to expand. 

• Critical infrastructure and operational technology are becoming more exposed. `

• Geopolitical tensions are influencing technology decisions and data strategies. 

• Quantum computing is beginning to reshape long-term cyber planning. 

Mseddi continued: “Threats are evolving faster than ever with AI, connected infrastructure, geopolitics and a rapidly changing regulatory landscape but the measures and solutions remain constant. Organisations need to put resilience at the centre of their cyber strategy to ensure they are better positioned, ready to protect what matters most and adapt to whatever comes next.”

Importantly, insights show that cyber resilience is increasingly becoming a marker of business trust. Customers and clients, partners, insurers and investors are placing greater scrutiny on organisations’ ability to withstand disruption, while cyber maturity is becoming a more important factor in procurement and supplier selection. 

Principal and cyber security practice leader at Forvis Mazars LLP in the US, Paul Truitt, added: “While governments and organisations are increasingly focused on where data is stored and which technologies they depend on, autonomy is now viewed as the more important objective: understanding critical dependencies and ensuring continuity when disruption occurs. The most resilient organisations will be those that build governance frameworks that can adapt quickly, scale effectively and support innovation without compromising sovereignty or security.” 

Overall, these latest insights and guidance from experts across Forvis Mazars Group outline the need for greater flexibility, prioritisation and a potential change in approach from organisations.

Embedding digital autonomy and sovereignty into security strategies is one way for business leaders to have more control and confidence in critical security decisions from the outset, enabling them to optimise technology and security investments, establish cyber resilience as a strategic capability and create competitive advantage from what’s traditionally been perceived as a defensive compliance tool.

forvismazars.com

This article was first published on The Business Picture on October 26, 2026.