Despite record investment in cybersecurity, Canadian organizations are experiencing a "security maturity illusion," creating vulnerability to attacks.

CDW Canada, a leading provider of technology solutions and services for Canadian organizations, today released its annual Canadian Cybersecurity Study, Navigating Ransomware, Modern Architectures and the Maturity Paradox, which explores the evolving state of cybersecurity among Canadian organizations. The study, sponsored by CDW Canada, conducted and analyzed independently by IDC Canada, surveyed over 700 IT security, risk and compliance professionals.

The findings reveal a clear shift in Canada's threat landscape. As AI capabilities advance, cybercriminals are becoming more targeted and strategic in their approach. Enterprise organizations saw the sharpest increase in cyber incidents, signaling a shift, by bad actors, away from high-volume simple attacks, toward more complex environments with higher financial rewards.

AI, higher returns driving attacks

Over the past few years, adoption and experimentation with AI tools have introduced new efficiencies, not only for businesses but also for attackers. AI-enabled tactics are allowing cybercriminals to scale attacks faster and with greater precision.

The result is a surge in enterprise attacks, with average incidents per enterprise climbing from 191 to 342 year-over-year, and more than half (52 percent) of enterprise organizations reporting suffering a breach. Additionally, infiltration-based incidents grew, signaling deeper access into systems rather than surface-level disruption.

"The rapid evolution of cyberthreats and the clear pivot toward high-value enterprise environments signal a more calculated and strategic attacker mindset," said Ivo Wiens, Field Chief Technology Officer, Cybersecurity at CDW Canada. "At this stage, bridging these gaps is imperative and organizations need partners with a proven understanding of the modern threat landscape."

Unfortunately, despite improvement in cyber incident detection, enterprise organizations continue to suffer dozens of successful breaches each year. The study revealed gaps in the defence frameworks of Canadian organizations that are often targeted the most.

Cloud remains the biggest threat for large Canadian organizations

As organizations continue expanding their cloud environments, misconfigurations and identity management gaps are exposing critical systems and posing immediate security risks.

In 2026, enterprise cloud infection rates reached the highest level ever recorded in the study's history, indicating a widening gap between cloud adoption and the maturity of cloud security practices. While cloud incidents declined among smaller organizations, enterprise cloud-related incidents increased year over year, highlighting how larger, more complex environments are becoming increasingly vulnerable.

Most importantly, many cloud security failures stem not from technology shortcomings but from how cloud environments are configured and maintained. This creates weakness and challenges the defence framework, increasing the impact when incidents occur and causing broader disruption, business impact and longer downtime. Average enterprise cloud downtime increased from 16 days to 20 days per incident, making cloud breaches one of the most disruptive incident types.

Larger investments lead to potential false sense of security

While Canadian organizations invest in modern cybersecurity tools, the gaps in people, identity and supplier security are often overlooked. The study reports that security spending reached a five-year high, with 20 percent of IT budgets now dedicated to security and 57 percent of organizations report security funding as good or readily available. Despite this progress, most organizations in Canada still lack strong, consistent practices to manage internal risks related to employees and contractors, which can turn these easily manageable events into severe business disruptions.

To contain impact, recover quickly and maintain trust, organizations must ensure their security frameworks are cohesive and strategically aligned. Without this, even minor vulnerabilities can destabilize the organization.

"Canadian organizations are investing more than ever in cybersecurity, but spending alone doesn't equal security," said Ben Boi-Doku, Chief Cybersecurity Strategist at CDW Canada. "By setting clear expectations for AI deployment, Canadian organizations are taking an important step toward managing risk, strengthening business continuity and preserving trust in an increasingly complex threat environment."

A cautious approach towards AI

As AI adoption accelerates, Canadian organizations are taking a more deliberate approach to its deployment. Today, AI model monitoring, auditing and assurance tools were identified as a priority by 51 percent of organizations in Canada, highlighting that AI adoption is driving new security spending.

The responsible use of AI is a huge factor in mitigating risks; nearly half (45 percent) of organizations chose identity and access security for AI workloads, underscoring concerns around misuse and unauthorized access.

Organizations are also setting clear expectations for AI adoption. More than half (56 percent) require proven accuracy and lower false positive rates before deploying AI systems, while 51 percent expect transparency in how AI models make decisions. Additionally, 45 percent of organizations emphasize the need for traceability and auditability of AI-driven actions to ensure alignment with compliance and risk frameworks.

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About CDW Canada

CDW Canada Corp. is a leading provider of technology services and solutions for business, government, education and healthcare. Established in 2003, CDW Canada is the country's trusted advisor for cybersecurity, hybrid infrastructure and workplace modernization. CDW Canada's local experts design, orchestrate and manage customized services and solutions, making technology work so people can do great things. Through its services-led approach, CDW Canada simplifies complex technology to empower customers to focus on their business and thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape. CDW Canada is a subsidiary of CDW Corporation (NASDAQ:CDW), a Fortune 500 company. For more information, visit www.cdw.ca.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260401606737/en/

For further information:

Julie Clivio

VP, Growth & Operations, CDW Canada

647.288.5828 | julie.clivio@cdw.ca

Cyberattacks Targeting Canadian Enterprises Surge Nearly 80% Year Over Year