Zero Trust cuts incidents but firms slow to adopt AI security

Research from DXC Technology and Microsoft indicates a significant reduction in security incidents for organisations adopting Zero Trust, but highlights limited adoption of AI authentication tools.

The Trust Report: From Risk Management to Strategic Resilience in Cybersecurity, published by DXC Technology and Microsoft, assessed the cybersecurity strategies of global organisations through interviews with over one hundred experts across four continents. The findings show that Zero Trust frameworks have become essential for mitigating the impact of rising security threats, particularly as attackers exploit advances in AI.

The report states that 83% of organisations using Zero Trust frameworks have successfully reduced the number of security incidents they experience. This has resulted in lower remediation and support costs for those organisations. The research also reveals, however, that only 30% have implemented AI-driven authentication tools, signalling a notable gap between threat awareness and the use of advanced cyber defences.

AI adoption lag

AI is increasingly playing a role in both the design and execution of cyber threats. The relatively low adoption of AI-based security tools highlights an area where organisations may be missing vital opportunities for more adaptive and proactive protection.

Zero Trust is increasingly viewed as the standard going forward. As AI-driven threats accelerate, organisations must evaluate security holistically across identity, devices, networks, applications, and data. At DXC, we're helping customers embed Zero Trust into their culture and technology to safeguard operations. Our end-to-end expertise makes it possible to both defend against AI threats and harness secure AI in the same decisive motion.

This statement comes from Dawn-Marie Vaughan, Global Offering Lead Cybersecurity at DXC, emphasising both the momentum behind Zero Trust adoption and DXC's approach to integrating security across business functions.

Obstacles to adoption

The report identifies legacy systems as the foremost barrier to broader Zero Trust implementation, with 66% of surveyed organisations citing ageing technology as the most significant challenge. This implies that efforts to modernise infrastructure remain central to enhancing cyber resilience.

New cybersecurity threats are the primary driver for updating Zero Trust frameworks, with 72% of respondents indicating that the evolving threat landscape pushes them to continuously upgrade policies and practices. In addition, more than half of responding organisations recognised improvements in user experience as a secondary benefit of adopting Zero Trust approaches, beyond the gains in security posture.

Integration and simplification

Microsoft's commentary in the research reflects the significance of consolidating platforms and operations under coherent security strategies. Alex Simons, CVP, Microsoft Entra, said:

Most enterprises already rely on Microsoft Entra ID and Microsoft 365 as the backbone of their IT environments. Building Zero Trust solutions alongside DXC extends that value, enabling tighter integration, simplified operations, and greater visibility and control. By consolidating around the Microsoft stack, organisations can reduce complexity, cut costs, and accelerate their Zero Trust journey.

This perspective suggests that existing investments in foundational IT platforms can be leveraged to further Zero Trust objectives, facilitating a smoother transition and improved manageability.

Zero Trust as a continuous process

Participants in the study agreed that Zero Trust is not a project with a defined end point. Instead, it is an ongoing process that requires continuous monitoring, regular updates, and cultural adaptation. The advice from DXC's cybersecurity specialists is for companies to prioritise identity management as an initial phase and to engage trusted partners for comprehensive Zero Trust architecture deployment at scale.

While the adoption of Zero Trust reduces incidents and improves user experience, the research indicates that organisations could benefit from further use of AI technologies within their cybersecurity strategies. The report concludes that collaboration, phased implementation, and ongoing monitoring remain central to strategic resilience in the face of evolving cyber risks.