Most Security Teams Miss Their Own Performance Targets: HiveWatch Report

HiveWatch has released a new benchmark report examining the performance of enterprise physical security operations, finding that only 19% of security teams consistently meet their own service-level agreements (SLAs) despite widespread confidence in threat detection capabilities.

The report, “The State of Physical Security Operations in 2026,” was commissioned through independent research firm Censuswide and surveyed 300 U.S.-based professionals responsible for physical security operations at organizations with 500 or more employees and at least $5 million in annual revenue.

According to the report, large enterprises reported false alarm rates approaching 44%, while nearly 30% of organizations said they still rely on manual device health checks rather than fully automated monitoring systems.

The findings also pointed to growing adoption of artificial intelligence within physical security operations. HiveWatch reported that 97% of respondents are either currently using AI or actively evaluating it for security operations. AI adoption reached 75% among organizations that rated themselves at the highest maturity levels, compared with 43% among lower-maturity programs.

“The findings reveal a striking disconnect between confidence and operational effectiveness across modern security operations centers,” said Ryan Schonfeld, co-founder and CEO of HiveWatch, in a statement announcing the report.

The report also identified what HiveWatch described as an “automation deficit” across the industry, with operators spending significant time on repetitive administrative tasks such as manual alarm triage and routine notifications instead of threat analysis and response activities.

“The physical security industry has spent years talking about technology adoption, but the more important question is whether security programs are remaining operationally effective as complexity scales,” said Jordan Hill, co-founder and head of product at HiveWatch. “The organizations making meaningful progress are the ones operationalizing AI and automation to reduce noise, improve response, and give operators the ability to focus on actual threats.”

HiveWatch said the report combines independent survey data with operational benchmark insights from its customer environments, providing comparative data on operational maturity, AI adoption, device monitoring, alarm management and security operations center structure.

Download the full report here.