Dan Lohrmann is calling all government CISOs (and yes, CTOs, CIOs, CFOs, COOs, and even a few corporate CEOs can listen in): In his latest Government Technology article, Lohrmann, an internationally recognized cybersecurity leader, technologist, keynote speaker, and author, says it’s time to adjust our cyber lingo — again.

Specifically, start talking (more) about financial fraud, AI-generated scams, citizen trust, due diligence, (your government’s) reputation, protecting identities, cybercrime, data integrity, and AI-solutions.

Stop talking as much about hacking, zero-day exploits, critical network vulnerabilities, next-generation firewalls, and other technical security jargon.

But why?

Across the country, numerous state and local government security leaders are facing budget cuts, staffing shortages, hiring freezes, fewer grants, and, oftentimes, an inability to make a compelling case for new (or ongoing) cybersecurity investments that are needed now.

Lohrmann points to a report from Cybersecurity Ventures published in Cybercrime Magazine to highlight cyber economic predictions and market data that government leaders should be paying attention to: The world will spend $522 billion on cybersecurity products and services in 2026; Cybercrime cost the world $10.5 trillion annually in 2025, up from $3 trillion in 2015; The U.S. spends more than $25 billion on cybersecurity every year.

As AI-enabled cyberattacks crossed a major tipping point in 2025, vital questions have emerged in 2026 for CxOs regarding how prepared organizations are to defend critical data, systems, networks, and more.

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