Swimlane study finds security teams are adapting to a new normal, filling the gap as federal support wanes

DENVER – August 13, 2025 – According to a newly released report from Swimlane, AI hyperautomation for the entire security organization, 85% of security teams have experienced budget or resource-related changes in the past six months as the government looks at ways to reduce spending. The report, “Shifting Ground: Federal Cyber Priorities Reshape Security Strategy,” reveals the ripple effects of recent U.S. federal cybersecurity cutbacks, giving the private sector the opportunity to safeguard critical operations as federal support diminishes.

Recent shifts in U.S. federal cybersecurity efforts, most notably cuts to key CISA programs and the disbanding of the Cyber Safety Review Board, are reverberating far beyond Washington. To better understand how cybersecurity teams are adapting to this shift, Swimlane surveyed 500 IT and security decision-makers across the U.S. and U.K. The findings show how private-sector leaders are shouldering greater responsibility for resilience, investment and public‑private coordination. 

“While the traditional backbone of intelligence sharing, incident coordination and funding has evolved, security professionals are stepping up to bridge the gaps and drive innovative solutions,” said Michael Lyborg, CISO at Swimlane. “The result is increased exposure to risk, diminished threat visibility and mounting strain on already overstretched security operations. In this new era, private organizations must be prepared to stand alone and prioritize proactive, scalable defenses to stay ahead of increasingly sophisticated threats.” 

Key Takeaways

• Confidence in Public-Private Coordination is Eroding: Eighty-one percent believe it will hinder threat intelligence sharing, 86% warn that disbanding the Cyber Safety Review Board will disrupt post-incident coordination and 79% say federal defunding has increased overall cyber risk.
• Federal Cuts are Rewiring Security Investment Plans: Sixty-three percent of respondents say recent or anticipated cuts are affecting team structure and staffing plans. Nearly half (46%) report reducing their planned security investments for 2025 due to ongoing federal funding instability. 
• Security Teams are Bearing the Brunt of Cost Pressures: Eighty-five percent of organizations have faced budget or resource cuts in the past six months. The top impacts include increased workloads without added support (52%), team restructuring (48%) and reduced capacity for detection and monitoring (41%).
• Organizations are Taking Resilience Into Their Own Hands: With federal support waning, 91% of organizations have taken new steps to protect operational resilience. Over half (54%) have developed internal cybersecurity frameworks independent of government guidance. 
• Weakening U.S. Cyber Posture Shakes Trust Among Global Allies: Seventy-nine percent of U.K. respondents say growing U.S. cybersecurity instability has made them more cautious with U.S.-based vendors. As a result, 43% have reassessed existing partnerships and 29% have delayed or canceled contracts.

“As many seasoned cybersecurity professionals will tell you, this industry runs in cycles of reaction, regulation, retrenchment and reinvestment,” said Cody Cornell, co-founder and chief strategy officer of Swimlane. “Right now, we’re in a period of reorganization and a changing regulatory environment. But in the face of shrinking federal support, most organizations aren’t standing still. They’re adapting, taking ownership of their resilience strategies and building internal frameworks to maintain readiness, no matter what’s happening in Washington. This isn’t just about surviving the current climate. It’s about redefining what resilient security leadership looks like moving forward.”

Key Resources

• Download the report: Shifting Ground: Federal Cyber Priorities Reshape Security Strategy
• Register for Swimlane’s upcoming webinar “Tips to Adapt Your Security Strategy in an Era of Federal Cyber Cutbacks” on September 18th at 12:30 PM ET.  

Methodology
The survey was conducted among 500 IT and cybersecurity decision-makers at enterprise companies with at least 1,000 employees in the United States and the United Kingdom. The interviews were conducted online by Sapio Research and under the guidance of Swimlane, between June and July 2025, using an email invitation and an online survey. 

About Swimlane
At Swimlane, we believe the convergence of agentic AI and automation can solve the most challenging security, compliance and IT/OT operations problems. With Swimlane, enterprises and MSSPs benefit from the world’s first and only hyperautomation platform for every security function. Only Swimlane gives you the scale and flexibility to build your own hyperautomation applications to unify security teams, tools and telemetry ensuring today’s SecOps are always a step ahead of tomorrow’s threats. 

Learn more: swimlane.com