Cyber Outlook for 2026

In the cyber environment, we face a threat landscape that is volatile, uncertain, complex, and often ambiguous. This ambiguity stems from risk factors that are difficult to understand due to a lack of reliable information. Resources are not infinite; organizations must protect themselves while also avoiding another type of threat: wasted investments. It is therefore necessary to set priorities, broadening our horizons to include in the risk assessment everything that is not a given. Threats must also be evaluated by determining whether potential attackers hold an advantage or whether the balance tips in our favor. 

The questions we must ask ourselves include the following: Does the threat have a direct impact on my organization? Is it measurable? What are the costs of any countermeasures? Would it make sense to make new investments if the financial impact of these threats were minimal? 

A few short paragraphs are not enough to list all the threats we faced in 2025 and will continue to face in 2026, but we will try to outline the main ones. 

We will see the rise of deepfakes, with the creation of highly realistic content that can be used to enhance social engineering strategies. Nation-state-sponsored actors will continue to refine their methods, often combining sophisticated capabilities with basic tools and techniques borrowed from the world of cybercrime. 
The theft of credentials used to access infrastructure, steal data, and spread malware will increase. It is worth noting that, statistically, after a credential is stolen (for example, via an infostealer or social engineering), it is put up for sale on dark web forums within three hours. Exploiting known vulnerabilities in perimeter devices will remain one of the primary attack vectors, as it has been in recent months. Attacks on the supply chain are also on the rise and will manifest primarily in two ways: through the compromise of software components and through the compromise of service providers. We will also need to pay attention to ransomware (fueled by the spread of ransomware-as-a-service models), the compromise of cyber-physical systems (OT, IoT, IIoT), and the generation of malicious content via AI (phishing, fraud, code generation, etc.). 

Whatever threats we may face in the coming months, let us remember that the target will always be data. Protecting data means being aware of your company’s assets—an awareness that is often lacking—while keeping in mind that traditional defense tools are not limited to technology alone.