Cybersecurity 2026: 6 Forecasts and a Blueprint for the Year Ahead

by Chuck Brooks

As we look ahead to 2026, the cybersecurity landscape is approaching a crucial stage where new technologies, changing threat actors, and altering global dynamics come together to put companies under more pressure than ever before. It’s no longer safe to assume whether we will be breached; instead, we must consider when it will happen and how we will respond. Below are six forecasts, each with a list of things that every security executive should keep in mind.

1. Agentic AI Will Become the New Attack and Defense Frontier

 In 2026, we will no longer view AI merely as a tool; instead, it will become a battlefield in its own right. Both attackers and defenders will increasingly utilize autonomous (’agentic’) AI systems, which operate with minimal or no human control. Attackers will use these AI systems to explore, adapt, and exploit, while defenders will utilize them to monitor, detect, and contain threats. This means that attackers will use AI bots to conduct reconnaissance, move laterally, and steal data more quickly than human-run operations can respond. Companies need to transition from viewing AI as an enhancement to considering it as an architecture, which involves incorporating guardrails, provenance, and accountability into every agentic system. A new focus is to watch agents’ choices, not just what we told them to do. Security teams should conduct “agent-in-the-wild” simulations to evaluate whether we would observe this behavior. And most importantly, would we also be able to catch what the agent decides to do next?

2. Quantum computing has been a threat on the horizon for a long time. In 2026, we reach a turning point

The time for “harvest now, decrypt later” assaults gets shorter, and moving to post-quantum cryptography becomes more important. Key signals: Stolen private information today might be saved for quantum decoding tomorrow. Real risk will start to show up in old encryption methods like RSA and ECC. Companies who haven’t kept track of their crypto footprint are at risk. The move won’t be a choice; regulators, insurers, and enemy states will push businesses to adopt standards that are quantum-resilient. For 2026, perform a “crypto inventory” to find out where high-value keys, systems, and protocols still depend on weak schemes. Start using post-quantum algorithms and hybrid crypto solutions in real life. Ensure the safety of key-deletion and archival processes: if adversaries manage to decrypt tomorrow, managing the archive serves as a crucial first line of defense.

3. Deepfakes, synthetic media, and identity deceptions are on the rise

The border between genuine and fake is getting harder to see. In 2026, hackers will use incredibly believable fake audio, video, and identity constructions as weapons in ways that standard detection can’t find. In 2025, Business Email Compromise (BEC) will worsen due to audio and video conversations that appear to originate from executives or service providers. Biometric and identity-verification systems will be susceptible to spoofing using manufactured identities or copied biometrics. People will lose faith in the principle of “seeing is believing,” which will make organizations that rely solely on human validation or identity verification more vulnerable. Things to think about: Use ongoing identity authentication instead of one-time checks. Add anomaly detection to speech and video authentication systems to identify vocal “behavior” that deviates from the norm. Companies will need to teach workers about “synthetic realism,” which makes it harder to tell what’s real and what’s not. Think about the legal and insurance effects of fake synthetic imitation.

4. The attack surface grows as IoT, Edge, and Device Proliferation grow

Every connected object may be a way in. In 2026, as edge computing, 5G/6G deployment, and IoT devices become more common, we will witness big assaults coming from the weakest embedded device instead of the main data center. There is a vital need to protect networks and infrastructure. Now, the danger is even higher because of the multiple devices that businesses use. Things to worry about: Devices that can’t easily upgrade their firmware or come with weak default passwords will be easy targets. Edge computing clusters, such as those found in manufacturing and logistical hubs, may be traditional “lateral pivot zones.” Botnets, DDoS attacks, and supply-chain penetration activities will increasingly leverage distributed device fleets. Device lifecycle management, which includes provisioning, patching, and decommissioning, is a top security priority for 2026. Zero-trust at the device/access level means you should think that every device might be hacked. At the edge, there is segmentation and micro-networking. Vendor/integrator risk arises because many devices are manufactured by other companies; therefore, treat them as part of the supply chain.

5. Cybercrime Grows into Corporate-Class Businesses

 The threat actor economy keeps getting bigger. Expect cybercrime activities in 2026 to be more like business units than gangs. They will be well organized, service-oriented, and worldwide. Key features: Ransomware and extortion grow into whole ecosystems, with things like affiliate models, subscription services, and encrypted laundering. Outsourcing, corporate identification, marketing, and even “customer support for victims” become routine. Nation-states, criminals, and hybrid actors all get mixed up: proxy operations, plausible deniability, and mixed motivations. Change your way of thinking about threat actor groups: see them as business competitors, not just secret hackers. You need to be able to predict their service offerings, tools-as-a-service, and “customer support” for victims. Business continuity and reputation must be part of incident response since the effects reach beyond technology. Insurance, rules, and the law will put more pressure on businesses to take responsibility for strong systems, not merely protections around the edges. Relying solely on technology will not suffice; instead, resilience, leadership, and culture will serve as crucial strategic differentiators.

6. In 2026, the companies that do well will be the ones that see cybersecurity as a strategic pillar for the whole business, not simply an IT cost center

Why now? A lot of the problems I’ve brought up (AI threat vectors, quantum risk, and synthetic identity) need coordination at the business level, board engagement, and a shift in culture. What executives need to do: Make the CISO (or someone similar) a strategic business partner. The title may change, but the job will get bigger. Please include “threat blocked” and “cyber resilience metrics” in the list. Time-to-recover, adaptability, and incident containment matter. Embed ethical, legal, and operational alignment in cybersecurity: from the boardroom down, the narrative shifts from “prevent all attacks” to “manage risk, enable business.” Cultivate a security-aware culture: as threats increasingly target human and identity vectors, employees become frontline defenses. Structure public-private cooperation, supply-chain coordination, and threat-intelligence sharing—no organization is an island.

Final Word 2026 will not simply look like an extension of 2025—but a distinct inflection. New technologies such as artificial intelligence, quantum computing, and the Internet of Things, along with new adversary business models and organizational paradigms, are converging to escalate the risks. (Also see my emerging tech forecasts on LinkedIn: (35) 2026 Technology and Cybersecurity Predictions | LinkedIn) For defenders, the time to act is now. The question is no longer whether to act, but when and how effectively: How quickly can you detect and respond when an AI agent turns malicious? Have you catalogued and addressed your crypto-legacy risk? Can you reliably authenticate identity when the “face” you see might be synthetic? Are your devices a liability or an integral part of your architecture? Do you consider your adversaries to be business rivals operating at scale? Is cybersecurity a deeply institutionalized part of leadership, culture, and strategy? In short, the future of cybersecurity focuses less on walls and more on motion, detection, adaptation, and trust. As we step into 2026, let’s build not just defenses but a resilient security-enabled enterprise that thrives in complexity, rather than simply survives it.