Defending the Digital Battlespace: Why Data is Now Your Decisive Asset

Defending the Digital Battlespace: Why Data is Now Your Decisive Asset

Defending the Digital Battlespace is no longer a future consideration, it is an operational imperative. Every mission, every decision now depends on trusted data that moves securely across domains and allies at mission speed. Yet adversaries are exploiting legacy systems, insider threats, and interoperability gaps to degrade mission assurance and pre-position attacks on critical infrastructure.

Recent findings from the CYBER360: Defending the Digital Battlespace report underscore these challenges, based on insights from 500 security leaders and IT decision makers across the UK and U.S.

The Stakes

Cyberattacks on government and defense organizations surged 25% year-on-year, with agencies in the U.S. and UK now facing an average of 137 attacks per week. These numbers are not just statistics. They represent a growing operational risk that can compromise intelligence, slow decision-making, and ultimately lead to mission failure.

Why Zero Trust Alone is Not Enough

Zero Trust has become a universal standard, but it cannot secure operations that span multiple domains, partners, and classification levels on its own. The reality is clear, secure data transfer and access are now the barrier to mission assurance. Without trusted, integrated data, the digital backbone of the integrated force cannot function.

“Zero Trust provides essential controls, but it was not designed to solve Cross Domain transfer or coalition data sovereignty on its own. In operational settings where classification boundaries and partner policies differ, the missing piece is assured, policy-driven data movement.” — Marianne Bailey, former NSA Deputy National Manager for National Security Systems

The Cybersecurity Trinity

To counter these challenges, organizations must adopt a layered approach built on three interacting frameworks:

• Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) – Continuous verification, assuming breach.
• Data-Centric Security (DCS) – Protecting the asset itself, wherever it moves.
• Cross Domain Solutions (CDS) – Enabling secure data exchange and access between networks of different classifications without compromising speed or isolation.

The AI Imperative

AI is reshaping operations, but it is only as effective as the data pipeline that feeds it. Without trusted, auditable data flows, predictive analytics and rapid threat protection collapse. CDS and DCS are essential to enabling AI with confidence, helps to ensure commanders can sense, decide, and act faster than any adversary.

The Path Forward

The findings from CYBER360 are clear:

• 90% of organizations have begun integrating Data-Centric Security
• Nearly half still rely on manual processes This gap is a mission risk. Leaders must act now to secure data movement, enforce sovereignty, and enable AI-driven decision advantage.

About CYBER360

The CYBER360: Defending the Digital Battlespace report was published by Everfox on February 10, 2026. It analyzes survey results from 500 security leaders and IT decision makers working in government, defense, and critical industries in the UK and U.S. The survey was conducted in October 2025 by Censuswide with a 50/50 split between UK and U.S. respondents.

Digital Warfare is Here. Are You Ready?

Explore the full CYBER360 report for actionable insights and strategies to secure the digital battlespace.