Storm Technology survey reveals 27% of IT leaders concerned about ability to detect deepfake attacks

Storm Technology, a Littlefish company, has announced survey findings which reveal that 27% of IT leaders are concerned about their ability to detect deepfake attacks over the next 12 months. This concern was felt by more respondents in larger enterprises (33%) than SMBs (23%).

The research – conducted by Censuswide and involving 200 IT decision-makers and leaders across Ireland and the UK (100 in each market) – found that the biggest concerns around AI and security over the next year are data breaches (34%), data protection (33%), and increased risk of adversarial or cyber-attacks (31%). Meanwhile, a quarter (25%) consider shadow AI (use of unsanctioned or unpermitted tools) among their biggest concerns.

This is not necessarily surprising given that half of respondents (50%) know that people in their organisation are using such tools and some 55% admitted to using unsanctioned or unpermitted tools themselves. Forty-two per cent of IT leaders also opined that company data is not safe for input into these platforms.

Perhaps exacerbating this issue, just 60% of companies have been specific about which AI tools are sanctioned or permitted.

More broadly, over a fifth (21%) of IT leaders do not have a high degree of trust in AI tools and almost a third (32%) of companies do not have a strategy in place to address any AI risks that arise.

The research showed that 79% of IT leaders in Ireland and the UK agree their organisation needs to focus more on the regulation of AI tools and 28% do not believe their governance around AI tools is adequate. This rose to more than a third (35%) among Irish respondents.

When it comes to AI and data, 24% of IT leaders do not think their business data is ready for AI, with a similar proportion (23%) of the opinion that that their data governance policies are not robust enough to support secure AI adoption. This could explain why 78% believe a data readiness project is required to ensure successful AI adoption in their company.

Sean Tickle, Cyber Services Director, Littlefish, said: “AI is rapidly reshaping the enterprise landscape, but the speed of adoption is outpacing the maturity of governance. When nearly a third of organisations lack a strategy to manage AI risk, and over half of IT leaders admit to using unsanctioned tools, it’s clear that shadow AI isn’t just a user issue—it’s a leadership one.

“Deepfake threats, data governance gaps, and a lack of trust in AI platforms are converging into a perfect storm. To stay secure and competitive, businesses must invest in visibility, policy clarity, and data readiness—because without those, AI becomes a liability, not a differentiator.”

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