The IT Nerd

Xopero Software today announced the acquisition of Vigil Guard—a cybersecurity company behind a proprietary platform designed to monitor, control, and secure interactions with AI systems. This acquisition marks a pioneering step in combining data resilience with real-time AI threat mitigation, directly addressing an emerging class of risks: prompt injection attacks and sensitive data leakage via autonomous AI agents. 

Security Systems Fail to Keep Pace with AI Development

The rapid, widespread adoption of AI-driven tools and autonomous agents across developer and enterprise environments (such as Jira, Confluence, and code repositories) has exposed the limits of legacy security systems. Risks tied to artificial intelligence are escalating at an unprecedented rate. Corporate emails, internal documentation, and source code—frequently containing sensitive data—are routinely embedded into prompts sent to external large language models (LLMs). Simultaneously, prompt injection threats are mounting, where malicious instructions concealed within text can hijack AI assistants and exfiltrate critical corporate IP (as highlighted by recent vulnerabilities in enterprise AI tools like Atlassian Rovo).

In response, Xopero Software—a global provider of backup and data protection solutions, including DevOps protection via GitProtect.io—is joining forces with Vigil Guard to deliver an end-to-end AI security framework. This strategic expansion moves Xopero’s portfolio beyond traditional backup and Disaster Recovery toward a unified data protection and AI Governance stack.

From Backup to AI Security: A Unified Global Platform

Vigil Guard operates as an AI Detection and Response (AIDR) platform, delivering firewall and EDR-like capabilities specifically engineered for AI interactions. The technology provides instant detection of prompt injection attacks and granular control over AI agents, ensuring they do not breach operational boundaries. It prevents real-time data leaks by automatically masking Personally Identifiable Information (PII), financial data, and credentials before prompts hit external LLMs. Crucially, all verification occurs directly on-premises or within the customer’s private infrastructure, ensuring complete data privacy.

Xopero Software delivers enterprise-grade backup, disaster recovery, and data protection software, scalable hardware appliances, and a dedicated MSP platform. Its GitProtect.io brand is recognized globally as an advanced backup solution for DevOps environments, protecting source code and intellectual property. Nearly 2,000 organizations across more than 60 countries—including Fortune 500 enterprises—rely on Xopero to maintain business continuity.

As part of the transaction, Vigil Guard’s core team will fully integrate into Xopero Software. Operating under the Xopero umbrella, the team will continue advancing its proprietary AIDR engines while leveraging Xopero’s global R&D, operational scale, and international distribution network.

Setting a New Standard for Enterprise Data Protection

The synergy between Xopero and Vigil Guard creates a comprehensive security ecosystem tailored for highly regulated sectors, including financial services, insurance, telecommunications, healthcare, and public administration. The integrated solution enables organizations to safely accelerate AI adoption while ensuring auditability (ISO 27001, SOC 2) and compliance with international regulatory frameworks such as NIS2 and DORA.

The acquisition sends a clear signal to the global market: securing artificial intelligence requires a new generation of tools. Together, Xopero and Vigil Guard will empower organizations worldwide to unlock the full power of AI without compromising on data sovereignty, privacy, or resilience.

Digital ecosystems have hit a critical tipping point. As automated and AI-enhanced cyberattacks scale up globally, the gap between organizational preparedness and threat sophistication is widening at an alarming rate. 

85% of technology and security experts believe that the pace of cyber threat evolution will fundamentally outstrip enterprise defensive capabilities over the coming year. Compounding the crisis, one in five organizations located in Poland admits to experiencing a confirmed cyber incident within the past 12 months, with ransomware and phishing remaining the most destructive vectors. According to ESET, Poland ranked first globally in terms of the number of detected ransomware attacks, accounting for 6% of all reported incidents worldwide and surpassing even the United States.

These are the benchmark findings from the Contemporary Cybersecurity Landscape 2026 Report, published by Xopero Software. The study analyzes how European organizations are responding to an increasingly hostile threat landscape. 

The Escalation Curve: 88% Expect Attack Surges in 2026

The scale of modern cyber risk is no longer a forward-looking prediction – it is actively disrupting operational stability across Europe. According to the study:

• 88% of respondents expect the volume of cyberattack attempts to escalate further throughout 2026.
• One in five organizations (20%) reports having already experienced a confirmed cyber incident within the past 12 months.
• When evaluating the vectors causing the most severe business disruption and financial liquidation, experts point squarely to ransomware (83%) and phishing (71%). 

The Illusion of Security: The Resilience Gap 

Despite years of increasing awareness, actual organizational cyber resilience remains deeply fragile. The report reveals a disconnect between recognized risks and active defense:

• Only 29% of surveyed organizations rate their cyber resilience as high or very high. The vast majority (71%) describe it as “average” or “low.”
• 66% of experts predict a steadily widening gap between escalating threat levels and internal security capabilities, while an additional 19% believe cyber threats will completely outpace corporate preparedness. Together, this leaves 85% of leaders holding a deeply pessimistic outlook on corporate cyber resilience for the year ahead. 
• Despite these vulnerabilities, corporate responses remain conservative – 52% of organizations do not plan to increase their cybersecurity spending, and 64% operate entirely without cyber insurance.

The AI Skepticism Paradox

While Artificial Intelligence dominates global technology narratives, the report exposes a distrust of AI within frontline security operations. Only one in five organizations (20%) currently utilizes AI in their IT and security workflows.

The primary barrier is a lack of institutional trust: 40% of security specialists explicitly distrust AI-based solutions, citing concerns that the technology is unreliable, highly vulnerable to adversarial manipulation, or a source of entirely new threat vectors. Another 30% remain undecided, waiting for proven industry standards to emerge.

Legacy Mindsets in a Next-Gen Threat Environment

The report exposes a reliance on legacy defensive models. Cybercriminals are operating with corporate-level efficiency, yet corporate defenses remain heavily siloed and piecemeal:

• 55% of companies do not use threat intelligence to support proactive protection.
• 51% of respondents rely solely on traditional antivirus software for threat detection and response.
• 50% do not automate incident response processes, for example, through SOAR (Security Orchestration, Automation, and Response) platforms.
• Every second company (50%) lacks both a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) and an Incident Response Plan (IRP).

The full Contemporary Cybersecurity Landscape 2026 Report report is available for download at: https://xopero.com/resources/reports/cybersecurity-landscape-2026/

The Contemporary Cybersecurity Landscape 2026 Report was conducted via a comprehensive survey of 420 IT decision-makers, CISOs, and security experts representing critical sectors in Central Europe (Poland). Data is presented in aggregate percentage formats to ensure absolute anonymity regarding sensitive infrastructure vulnerabilities.