Global Cybersecurity Skills Gap Report 2025 by Fortinet lays out a blunt reality: Indian organizations are facing more cyberattacks, fewer skilled defenders, and rising financial losses — and without rapid upskilling in AI-driven security, the gap will widen further.
The survey, covering 1,850 IT and cybersecurity leaders across 29 countries, shows that India continues to experience some of the highest breach volumes in the world. Ninety-two percent of Indian organizations suffered at least one cyber breach in 2024, and more than a third reported five or more. The shortage of skilled cybersecurity professionals remains one of the primary reasons.
Skills Shortage Driving Higher Breach Volumes
The report makes it clear that the skills gap is no longer an abstract challenge. Fifty-four percent of Indian respondents said a lack of cybersecurity awareness and trained personnel directly contributed to breaches. Financial impact is rising as well. Sixty percent of organizations reported breach costs exceeding 1 million dollars in 2024 — a sharp jump from 38 percent in 2021.
The combination of intensified threats, rapid cloud expansion, growth in digital workloads, and heightened regulatory expectations has created a security environment where unfilled roles translate directly into business risk.
AI Can Ease Pressure — If Teams Know How To Use It
While organizations are rapidly adopting AI-enabled security tools, the gap in AI skillsets is emerging as a new bottleneck. Every surveyed company is either deploying or planning to deploy AI-driven cybersecurity solutions, with threat detection and prevention being the top use cases.
Eighty-two percent of security professionals believe AI will enhance their roles, not replace them. Yet 52 percent of IT leaders say the biggest challenge is the shortage of staff with AI expertise. The report highlights a critical insight: organizations suffering nine or more attacks in 2024 already had AI tools in place, indicating that adoption without proper expertise doesn’t reduce risk.
Boards Are Paying Attention — But Not Enough To AI Risks
Cybersecurity has now moved firmly into the boardroom. Eighty-eight percent of companies reported increased board-level focus on cyber issues in 2024, and all respondents said cybersecurity is considered both a business and financial priority.
However, only two-thirds of boards fully understand the risks posed by AI misuse. Awareness is noticeably higher in organizations already deploying AI, pointing to a knowledge gap that could widen as attackers adopt AI faster than defenders.
Certifications Still Matter — But Employer Support Is Shrinking
Ninety-eight percent of IT decision-makers prefer hiring candidates with certifications, citing their importance in validating core skills and keeping professionals current in a fast-evolving field. But the willingness of companies to pay for certifications has fallen from 92 percent in 2023 to 82 percent in 2024, even as the need for specialized cyber and AI security expertise grows.
Closing The Gap Will Require Coordinated Investment
Fortinet stresses that the skills gap is now one of the biggest barriers to business resilience. To address it, organizations must adopt a multi-pronged strategy: expanding access to cybersecurity education, building internal talent pipelines, funding certification programs, and combining human expertise with AI-driven security platforms.
To support this, the Fortinet Training Institute — one of the industry’s largest cybersecurity education programs — continues its mission to train one million cybersecurity professionals globally by 2026, with new modules focused on GenAI threats and AI-enabled defense.
The core message of the 2025 report is clear: without urgent investment in cybersecurity talent and AI upskilling, Indian organizations will face rising breach volumes, higher financial impact, and increased operational risk in 2025 and beyond.
