Endpoint cybersecurity software fails to protect one in five enterprise devices, leaving organizations vulnerable to cyber threats, research by Absolute Security has warned.

This protection gap means that organizations face the equivalent of 76 days a year in which they’re providing cybercriminals which increased access to their network, potentially leading to data breaches and downtime.

The findings come from Absolute Security’s 2026 Resilience Risk Index. The report, published on March 23, is based on analysis of device-level telemetry across tens of millions of enterprise endpoints, which have been validated as using endpoint management and cybersecurity software. 

Christy Wyatt, president and CEO of Absolute Security, commented, “Cyber-attacks are inevitable, downtime is optional.”

“The cybersecurity industry has rushed to provide innovations that detect and prevent threats, unfortunately it’s lagging when it comes to ensuring that tools can remain operational when they are needed most,” she added.

Slow Patch Management Leaves Systems Vulnerable

No single issue is the reason for this, but rather it is because of the growing complexity of enterprise IT environments.

The report noted that delays in applying security patches and software updates remain common, with almost a quarter (24%) of endpoint vulnerability management platforms classed as operating outside of compliance, up from 20% in the previous year.

This means that a growing share of enterprise endpoints are operating with software which is known to be vulnerable to potential security issues and exploitation but has not been remediated. These vulnerabilities expand the exploitation window which attackers can use to their advantage.

This issue also persists at an operating system level. According to analysis by Absolute, the application of critical updates for Microsoft Windows were delayed by an average of 127 days, leaving devices vulnerable to downtime caused by zero-day vulnerabilities and other cyber-attacks.

Meanwhile, nearly 10% of enterprise endpoints are now permanently unpatched — creating vulnerabilities that organizations may never be able to remediate. This is particularly the case if organizations continue to use Windows 10, which has been out of support since October 2025.

Overall, some organizations are struggling to manage their cybersecurity posture. This  ultimately results in the enterprise being vulnerable to cyber-attacks as well as at a disadvantage because of downtime and remediation.

However, enforcing policies around patch management, especially for enterprise security solutions and operating systems can go a long way to ensuring that networks are protected from cyber threats.

“In modern enterprise environments, the question is no longer simply whether systems are patched. It is whether organizations retain the ability to enforce change across millions of endpoints before exposure turns into disruption. And that challenge is becoming more urgent as the endpoint’s role continues to evolve,” said the report.