Highlights from CyberTheory’s 2025 CISO Engagement Study

CyberTheory’s highly anticipated 2025 CISO Engagement and Decision Drivers Study is now live—offering one of the most comprehensive views into how cybersecurity decision-makers, particularly CISOs, consume and interact with content. What makes this report unique is its foundation: ISMG’s proprietary dataset of over 2 million cybersecurity professionals, combined with expert analysis from Cyentia Institute, a leader in cybersecurity data science.

📥 Download the full report here

Together, CyberTheory and Cyentia transformed billions of intent signals and engagement data into actionable insights—distilled into a visually-driven, marketer-friendly report.

Whether you’re building campaigns, writing content, or planning ABM plays, this study is your guide to what resonates with CISOs right now.

Here are some highlights from the study:

AI Content Dominates User Attention

AI has solidified its role as the top-performing content theme in cybersecurity. Not only did AI-related content triple in volume between 2022 and 2025, but it also captured the highest engagement levels across ISMG’s global media network. Its flexibility makes it uniquely powerful—connecting both offensive themes (like AI-based attacks) and defensive strategies (such as SOC automation and AI-driven detection).

“AI and machine learning drew 55.7% of all user interactions—the highest of any topic.” (Page 14)

 

OT Cybersecurity: High Demand, Low Supply

While AI continues to lead, Operational Technology (OT) security has emerged as an under-leveraged opportunity. In 2024, editorial interest in OT grew by 51%, reflecting a spike in news coverage and regulatory pressure. However, sponsored content declined, suggesting vendors haven’t caught up with buyer interest. For marketers, this gap presents an opening to establish early authority in critical sectors like energy, manufacturing, and transportation.

“Editorial OT content increased 51% in 2024, but sponsored OT content dropped.” (Page 10)

 

CISOs Are Consuming Board-Level Content

CISOs want content that goes beyond features and tactics. The data shows that this audience gravitates toward formats that provide strategic depth, such as webinars, whitepapers, and long-form articles. What performs best? Content that’s framed around executive concerns, risk strategy, and high-level outcomes. Short-form or overtly promotional assets tend to fall flat in comparison.

“Webinars earned the highest engagement among CISOs, followed by articles and whitepapers.” (Page 21)

 

Event Participation Drives Massive Engagement

In-person and virtual events aren’t just branding opportunities—they’re engagement accelerators. Organizations with at least one summit attendee show 13x higher engagement with related content after the event. This makes events a powerful catalyst for multi-touch campaigns, especially in account-based marketing (ABM) strategies where follow-up and cross-role engagement are key.

“Organizations with event attendance saw over 13x more content engagement than those without.” (Page 28)

 

SMBs Seek Practical, Problem-Solving Content

Small and midsize businesses (SMBs) cybersecurity leaders show strong content engagement—but only when it aligns with their needs. SMB audiences want content that addresses immediate, operational challenges like phishing detection, automation, or identity management. They are highly engaged with AI, but prefer use cases over abstract strategy. This segment values simplicity, actionability, and relevance to their lean team structures.

“SMBs interact with AI-related content more than any other topic, including ransomware and cloud security.” (Page 27)

 

Ready to Dive Deeper?

This post just scratches the surface. The 2025 CyberTheory/Cyentia CISO Engagement and Decision Drivers Study is packed with charts, real-world examples, and persona-based insights to elevate your cybersecurity content strategy.

📥 Download the full report here