University of Kwazulu-Natal

7 Predictions Defining The Move To Always On Cybersecurity In 2026

Bonisiwe Shabane
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7 predictions defining the move to always on cybersecurity in 2026

2026 will be a defining year for cybersecurity. AI-driven attacks are accelerating, security programs are maturing fast, and organizations are realizing that reactive approaches are no longer enough. Across every prediction from HackerOne security leaders, one theme stands out: the need for continuous validation powered by both AI and human ingenuity. From agentic security and CTEM adoption to supply-chain risk and sector-specific threats, leaders agree that security in 2026 will reward organizations that test early, test often, and treat autonomy with caution. The hackbots and AI “arms race” in cybersecurity will reach a tipping point in 2026, driving deeper collaboration between security researchers and organizations to counter increasingly autonomous cyber threats. In the year ahead, the cybersecurity landscape will enter a new phase of escalation as AI systems become more autonomous and intertwined across both attack and defensive strategies.

The DARPA-funded AIxCC competition has shown how powerful AI can be at identifying and patching vulnerabilities, and I believe we will see dramatic improvements in this realm. Organizations have started taking a more mature approach to the security posture of their own AI deployments. Over the past year, organizations have increased testing of their AI assets by 270%*, signaling a shift in how AI is implemented and secured. This surge in AI deployments is reshaping the threat landscape, as the number of AI-related vulnerabilities jumped 200% and prompt-injection reports soared 540% in 2025. Elimination of federal funding for the Multi-State Information Sharing and Analysis Center® (MS-ISAC®) ... cyber threat actors (CTAs') ongoing use of artificial intelligence (AI) ...

the AWS outage in October ... these and similar developments created new risks for organizations like yours in 2025. In doing so, they shifted the conversation around your cybersecurity and compliance priorities going forward. There's so much change to decipher. Where do you focus your efforts? To put next year into context, we spoke to seven experts at the Center for Internet Security® (CIS®) about their 2026 cybersecurity predictions.

Here's what they had to say. AI Continues to Dominate the Headlines and Security Landscape. We will require contextualization of specific AI applications and use cases, including Model Context Protocol (MCP), Agentic AI, and Large Language Models (LLMs), and we will need to consider each in its own right. As more decision-making is placed on these technologies, organizations will need to assess them as tools, technologies, and personas within their environments — each with its own risk profile. Focused and Specific Threats to Critical Infrastructure and U.S. State, Local, Tribal, and Territorial (SLTT) Entities.

Threats and risks facing these organizations continue to grow and become more sophisticated. Organizations need assistance in the way of preparation, training, and support to confront talent shortages — all while navigating a lack of funding. As organizations accelerate toward 2026, the cybersecurity landscape is becoming more complex, more unpredictable, and more heavily influenced by fast-evolving technologies like generative AI. Threat actors are moving with unprecedented speed, regulatory demands are increasing, and the tools and techniques needed to defend modern environments are shifting just as rapidly. To help security leaders navigate what’s ahead, WatchGuard’s Threat Lab has released its annual Cybersecurity Predictions for 2026, a forward-looking analysis of the key trends, threat evolutions, and industry shifts expected to define the... Below is a snapshot of several major insights identified in this year’s report.

Traditional encryption-based ransomware is expected to decline as threat actors turn their focus toward pure extortion and data theft. Open-source package repositories may begin implementing automated, AI-driven defenses to help identify and mitigate malicious activity in software supply chains. Emerging regulations, including the EU Cyber Resilience Act, are accelerating the industry’s adoption of secure-by-design development principles—making proactive security a requirement rather than an option. Visibility and context on the threats that matter most. Every November, we make it our mission to equip organizations with the knowledge needed to stay ahead of threats we anticipate in the coming year. The Cybersecurity Forecast 2026 report, released today, provides comprehensive insights to help security leaders and teams prepare for those challenges.

This report does not contain "crystal ball" predictions. Instead, our forecasts are built on real-world trends and data we are observing right now. The information contained in the report comes directly from Google Cloud security leaders, and dozens of experts, analysts, researchers, and responders directly on the frontlines. The year ahead in cybersecurity will be defined by rapid evolution and refinement by adversaries and defenders. Read the report to learn about the threat and other cybersecurity trends we anticipate seeing in the year ahead. Cybersecurity in the year ahead will be defined by rapid evolution and refinement by adversaries and defenders.

Defenders will leverage artificial intelligence and agentic AI to protect against increasingly sophisticated and disruptive cybercrime operations, nation-state actors persisting on networks for long periods of time to conduct espionage and achieve other strategic... What will the cybersecurity landscape look like next year? Rather than speculation, these cybersecurity predictions represent logical progressions of current attack methodologies and threat actor behaviors already evident in today’s landscape. Our Vice President of Security Intelligence, Rik Ferguson, and Vice President of Research, Daniel dos Santos, weigh in on the top challenges and new trends you are likely to see soon enough. Take these predictions as helpful tips to prepare your defenses in advance. Attackers are shifting focus from stolen passwords to the permissions granted to connected apps.

By abusing OAuth consents and refresh tokens from legitimate integrations in platforms, including Microsoft 365, Salesforce, and Slack, they can quietly move between tenants and keep access even after passwords are reset. In 2026, these ‘token-hopping’ campaigns will rival traditional phishing as the most effective path to compromise. With password-less authentication gaining ground, the day OAuth abuse surpasses phishing is getting ever closer. Defenders should build an inventory of authorized apps, limit what each can do, and regularly revoke unused or suspicious tokens. As artificial intelligence becomes deeply embedded in enterprise operations and cybercriminal arsenals alike, the Cybersecurity Predictions 2026 landscape reveals an unprecedented convergence of autonomous threats, identity-centric attacks, and accelerated digital transformation risks. Industry experts across leading security firms, government agencies, and research institutions have identified over 100 critical predictions that define the year ahead, a year where AI evolves from a defensive tool to both the...

The stakes have never been higher. With ransomware victims projected to increase by 40% compared to 2024, third-party breaches doubling to 30% of all incidents, and AI-driven attacks expected to dominate 50% of the threat landscape, organizations face a fundamental... This comprehensive analysis synthesizes expert forecasts to provide security leaders, practitioners, and decision-makers with actionable intelligence for navigating the most transformative cybersecurity year in modern history. The most significant Cybersecurity Predictions 2026 trend centers on the industrialization of artificial intelligence in cyberattacks. Threat actors are deploying agentic AI—self-directed systems that autonomously plan, execute, and adapt campaigns without human intervention. By Adam Metcalfe-Pearce (additional contributions by David Warburton, Ken Arora, Darien Kindlund, Malcolm Heath & Keiron Shepherd)

In what is becoming a bit of a tradition at F5 Labs, we once again dust off our crystal ball and wave our collective hands wildly above it as we dive into our cybersecurity... The pace of technological change and advancement continues to accelerate as the potential of AI is realized, the benefits of which are being utilized both for good and bad. Not to be overly dramatic, but the real-world implications on the cybersecurity landscape of these advancements are staggering and thus reflected in our predictions for next year. Cybersecurity professionals will have a whole new vector to consider and will need to be prepared to defend at a scale never before seen. With that out of the way, we can lighten the mood and take a look at how we did in our 2025 predictions. Keeping up with our past performance, we’ve done quite well again.

Okay we might have missed mind-controlled tech wearables, health-monitoring toilets and neuromorphic brain hacking, but otherwise our record remains strong. Our 2024 predictions scored an impressive 80% success rate, and yes, we were marking our own homework, but nevertheless a truly impressive feat in a dynamic year of emerging tech and a diverse set... Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2026. Read them in this 18th annual VMblog.com series exclusive. AI and other technology and ecosystem shifts are transforming cybersecurity at a fundamental level. DNSFilter talked with its internal team of cybersecurity and technology specialists to discover what's ahead on the threat landscape.

Their predictions highlight the need for a proactive security strategy that is agile enough to meet the challenge of generative AI and its impact on security. Companies must be willing to implement new tools and methods as needed. Seeing just beyond the cybercrime horizon will empower companies to stay ahead of emerging threats and safeguard their future. From this discussion, my team and I've compiled seven predictions for the coming year. Data troves will enable more effective attacks Cybercriminals are combining contextual data and noisy data to create and launch sophisticated and personalized attacks.

For example, by pairing PII (including personal and healthcare information) with geolocation data, attackers can make intelligent deductions about your daily life and design increasingly targeted and convincing campaigns to trick you. These bad actors may be able to determine that you recently injured yourself and are undergoing physical therapy at a specific clinic. Then, those bad actors could send a malicious email impersonating that clinic, which includes detailed, convincing information. This will make you far more likely to click, respond or take the action the threat actor wants you to take. - Constantin Jacob, manager, engineering, security intelligence and solutions. AI has shifted from an emerging trend to the backbone of how companies operate, secure and scale.

The DNSFilter network saw a 69% increase in AI traffic over the last 12 months. For managed service providers (MSPs) in the coming year, survival and success will depend on offering AI-powered services. Failure to adapt will result in being outpaced.

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