Majority of CISOs now hold executive-level titles, IANS reports

More organizations grant the CISO an executive title, an IANS survey found, as the top security job becomes less of a hands-on position and more of a business leader role.

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• Phil Sweeney, Industry Editor

Executive-level CISO titles now outnumber vice president- or director-level titles, according to new research from cybersecurity advisory firm IANS.

This is the first time a survey by IANS has found this preponderance of security leaders holding the CISO executive-level title. It's a trend that has been building in recent years, and one that plays out across business size.

In its "State of the CISO 2026 Benchmark Report," IANS found that 47% of large enterprises have raised security to the executive ranks, up from 33% in 2023. Similar increases were found among companies with annual revenue of less than $100 million, with 52% of those businesses now giving their security ...