Perspectives that drive progress

Cybersecurity spending has reached record highs, yet breaches continue to accelerate. According to recent industry data, over 80% of organizations now report having multiple layered security tools in place, including endpoint protection, email filtering, backup systems, and identity controls. On paper, this should create a hardened environment. In reality, most businesses remain dangerously exposed.

In March 2026, Oracle Health became the center of a significant cybersecurity incident that is still unfolding across the healthcare sector. While initial reports pointed to a contained breach, subsequent disclosures revealed a much broader impact tied to third-party integrations, data access pathways, and legacy system dependencies. This was not just another breach. It was a real-time demonstration of how deeply interconnected healthcare systems have become, and how a single vendor compromise can ripple across an entire ecosystem.

There is a dangerous misconception that exists across mid-sized businesses today, particularly in environments with 15 to 100 endpoints and growing operational complexity. That misconception is simple, and it sounds reasonable on the surface: we have security tools, so we are secure.

Most businesses we speak with today don’t feel underprepared. They’ve invested in endpoint protection, email security, firewalls, backup systems—often from best-in-class vendors. On paper, their environment checks all the right boxes. And yet, when we dig deeper into how those systems operate day-to-day, a different reality emerges. Alerts aren’t reviewed consistently. Endpoint agents fall out of sync. Backups exist, but haven’t been tested in months. User access grows organically, without structured review. Tools are deployed—but not aligned. This is the gap that defines cybersecurity risk in 2026. It’s not a lack of tools—it’s a lack of operational visibility into how those tools are performing in real time. And when something goes wrong, that gap becomes the difference between a contained incident and a business-wide disruption.

Last week, the city of Foster City, California, was forced to shut down portions of its IT environment after detecting a ransomware attack that impacted core municipal services, including police communications. While containment efforts were successful in preventing further spread, the response itself created immediate operational disruption.

Most businesses don’t struggle because they lack technology—they struggle because their technology doesn’t evolve as they grow. What works for a 10-person team quickly becomes inefficient at 25. At 50, it starts to introduce risk. By the time a company reaches 75 to 100 employees, unmanaged or poorly aligned IT can actively slow growth, create security gaps, and increase operational costs.