Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer January 22, 2026 4 Min Read Source: VectorFusionArt via Shutterstock Even as countries in Latin America look to boost their economies through a rapid shift to digital ecosystems, a lack of cybersecurity skills and confidence in government cyber-defenses has stymied progress. Highlighting their cyber challenges, organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean had the least confidence of all regions in their country's ability to defend critical infrastructure from cyberattacks — only 13% were confident in their nation's cyber defense while nearly half (49%) were not, according to the World Economic Forum's "Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026" report published last week. For context, worldwide, 37% of organizations are confident, the survey of more than 800 business leaders found. The concerns over their nations' abilities to stop and respond to attacks is a major issue in developing cyber-resilience for the region, says Giulia Moschetta, lead author of the report and research specialist at the World Economic Forum’s Centre for Cybersecurity. "Organizations in under-resourced regions often lack the cyber-resilience and incident-response capabilities of counterparts in more advanced economies, with regions such as ... Latin America lagging as digital infrastructure rapidly expands," she says, adding that "while cyber inequity is influenced by multiple factors — including gaps in governance frameworks, limited financial resources and unequal access to digital infrastructure — shortages in cybersecurity talent stand out for their pervasive and systemic impact." Latin America's economic prosperity will rely on turning these things around, the WEF said in the report . The assessment comes as organizations in Latin America and the Caribbean have experienced an increase in attacks in recent years. Latin America saw a 53% year-over-year increase in cyberattacks last year, about 40% more than the global average , according to data from Check Point Research. Cybercrime syndicates operating out of Southeast Asia and China have increased their presence in Latin America — as well as sub-Saharan Africa — with law enforcement only recently seeing success in their efforts to investigate and prosecute the groups. Mexico faces difficulties in boosting its infrastructure's cybersecurity ahead of the 2026 FIFA World Cup , while Venezuela has become the focus of nation-state cyberattacks as the United States military continues to conduct operations in the region . In addition, Brazil's financial system has become a perennial target of cybercriminals . Missing Cybersecurity Skills, Fraud Dominates Perhaps the greatest challenge hobbling cyber resilience in Latin America is the shortage of cybersecurity-skilled workers. More than two-thirds of organizations are missing the critical people and capabilities needed to improve cyber resilience, with only 31% of Latin American organizations believing they have the people with the skills to succeed. Business leaders in Latin America and the Caribbean have the least confidence that their governments can protect critical infrastructure from cyberattack. Source: World Economic Foundation With greater threats and not enough resources to meet those threats, Latin America and the Caribbean face a distinct challenge, says the WEF's Moschetta. "This shortage directly limits organizations' ability to secure rapidly expanding digital ecosystems and to translate technology adoption into sustained cyber resilience," she says, adding, "[W]ithout deliberate investment, coordination and capacity-building, the gap will widen, turning digital progress into a source of systemic vulnerability rather than inclusive growth." Cyber resilience is not just about cybersecurity, but also about resilience infrastructure, and Latin America needs greater investment, says Rafe Pilling, director of threat intelligence at cybersecurity firm Sophos X-Ops CTU. "In many countries across these regions, the reliability of power and Internet connectivity remain a foundational challenge," he says. "Intermittent outages or limited broadband coverage can disrupt business operations and weaken the ability of organizations to maintain continuous security monitoring or conduct rapid incident response." AI Can Help Defense, But Solid Cybersecurity Skills Are Needed AI-enabled security solutions can help build stronger defenses, allowing them to close the gap between more digitalization and a stronger cybersecurity foundation. At the same time, AI has enabled cybercriminals to conduct fraud in native languages, leading to a greater impact throughout the regions. The vast majority of respondents from each region polled by the WEF, including 77% for Latin America and the Caribbean, have experienced cyber-enabled fraud or know someone who suffered the effects of a scam. AI is changing cybersecurity in many ways, and the lack of an entrenched population of cybersecurity professionals could be to the benefit of Latin America, says Sophos' Pilling. "The advent of emerging AI adoption provides a brand-new attack surface and technology stack that needs to be defended, and a new wave of cybersecurity professionals could be primed to enter the market and take advantage of this, given that there are no extensively experienced experts in these technology stacks because they are brand new," he says. To solve the skills gap, Moschetta pointed to the WEF's Cybersecurity Talent Framework, which focuses on four priorities: attracting talent into cybersecurity, broadening training opportunities, finding the right talent, and working to retain professionals once they are found. "Talent retention is not solely the responsibility of HR departments, but a collective effort involving employees, managers, and executive leadership," she says. "Tackling issues such as limited recognition for cybersecurity roles and high job stress can help organizations build a more loyal and committed workforce, supporting long-term organizational and regional cyber resilience." Read more about: DR Global Latin America About the Author Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer Veteran technology journalist of more than 20 years. Former research engineer. Written for more than two dozen publications, including CNET News.com, Dark Reading, MIT's Technology Review, Popular Science, and Wired News. Five awards for journalism, including Best Deadline Journalism (Online) in 2003 for coverage of the Blaster worm. Crunches numbers on various trends using Python and R. Recent reports include analyses of the shortage in cybersecurity workers and annual vulnerability trends. See more from Robert Lemos, Contributing Writer