The Security Debt Demolition Guide
Security debt — security vulnerabilities left unresolved for more than a year — has reached a critical inflection point. In 2026, 82% of organizations carry it. 60% carry the kind that’s both severe and highly exploitable. The 2026 Verizon DBIR reveals that exploitation of vulnerabilities is the new #1 attack vector, and AI-powered discovery tools are compressing the timeline between a vulnerability existing and being weaponized from years to days.
Report Snapshot
This Report Covers:
- A frank assessment of where the industry actually stands — including the 11-point year-over-year surge in security debt prevalence and what the 36% rise in high-severity, high-exploitability flaws means for exposure right now.
- A three-phase framework — Prioritize, Protect, Prove — with specific, operational tactics for each phase grounded in 2026 SoSS data, not generic best practices.
- A concrete 90-day demolition plan — structured in three 30-day sprints, from emergency triage and asset inventory to pipeline integration, board-level reporting, and measurable accountability.
- A hard look at AI’s role on both sides — why 45% of AI-generated code introduces known security vulnerabilities, why the security pass rate hasn’t improved in two years, and how to govern AI code generation explicitly before it compounds the problem.