How Will Cybersecurity Evolve In 2026?

This year, we have witnessed a turning point in cybersecurity. Driven by artificial intelligence, the expansion of IoT deployments created new entry points for threat actors, and cyber criminals started employing increasingly sophisticated techniques that caught many systems and users off guard. With research revealing that the average cost of a significant cyberattack in the UK is more than £190,000, and predicted to cost the world $10.5 trillion USD in 2025, organizations are being forced to reassess their security strategies going into next year.

Cybersecurity is becoming a pillar of business strategy and a key feature of the C-suite agenda. Cyber resilience in 2026 means that enterprise systems must anticipate, detect, and respond to evolving threats at a faster pace than ever before. Regulatory bodies are beginning to demand measurable resilience, accountability, and proactivity instead of simple reactive firefighting.
 

AI-powered Attacks Will Redefine The Threat Landscape

2025 was the year of AI-powered cyberattacks. These attacks brought severe disruption to businesses, with IBM reporting a 97% share of organizations experiencing an AI-related security incident while lacking proper access controls. Highly realistic deepfakes are now part of the mainstream, and cyber criminals use them to develop personalized phishing emails at scale. These increasingly personalized and sophisticated methods will undoubtedly fuel more attacks going into 2026 that will result in unauthorized access to sensitive information.

Attackers are also using AI to create malware that can learn and adapt to bypass traditional security measures. AI is now able to scan web applications and networks for vulnerabilities that can immediately be exploited. Businesses must strengthen defenses, reduce vulnerabilities, and invest in integrated security systems to prepare for this new threat landscape.

While organizations race to adopt AI for productivity, innovation, and security, a new set of risks is emerging in parallel. Recent findings reveal that 78% of companies have adopted AI technologies in 2025, a significant increase from previous years. These new AI systems have become targets, as attackers started to exploit vulnerabilities in AI software to gain unauthorized access. To combat this, businesses must account for both AI-driven and AI-targeted attacks in their incident response plans, enforce strong identity verification and access controls, and strengthen identity and access management.
 

IoT Attacks Could Take Down Parts Of The Internet

The Internet of Things (IoT) landscape is an area at increasing risk of cyberattacks. As the global number of IoT deployments grows, with the number of connected devices estimated to reach 39 billion in 2030, the attack surface also expands. The interconnected nature of devices amplifies vulnerabilities, potentially allowing breaches to compromise entire networks or critical systems. In 2026, vulnerabilities in the IoT space could likely contribute to recurring outages like those we have seen in 2025, which will cause significant disruption across parts of the internet.

For industries including healthcare, defense, and surveillance, which handle sensitive information in large volumes, attacks on IoT devices risk reputational consequences, public mistrust, and fall in shareholder value. To guard against such attacks, we can expect to see organizations prioritize ‘secure by design’ principles. This enables IT teams to be prepared for a cyberattack from day one.
 

Global Regulations Will Tighten And Mature

The NCSC’s 2025 annual review warned that the UK is facing an unprecedented rise in cyber threats, and with these threats comes a complex legislative and regulatory landscape. This creates a risk-management environment where companies must innovate rapidly while also navigating stricter compliance and accountability requirements. Determining risk adversity levels will therefore become central to organizations.

Evolving cybersecurity regulations are becoming increasingly specific in their requirements, particularly when it comes to enhanced incident reporting requirements. The EU's Cyber Resilience Act is a key example of that: beyond the to be expected data protection focus both at rest and inflight, it also demands transparency and knowledge sharing. The EU and UK’s regulatory landscape is currently determined by integrated cybersecurity regimes, including the EU CRA and NIS2. These frameworks will continue to encourage businesses to adopt a proactive and deeply integrated security posture, one that is not just reviewed annually. These tenets are also reflected in other regional regulations across the globe.
 

CISOs Will Become Key Drivers Of Business Growth

Amidst these advancements in AI-powered attacks and an increasingly complex global regulatory landscape, the CISO role will evolve into a key strategic decision-making role within the C-suite. We can expect to see the prioritization of cybersecurity translate into a fundamental shift in enterprise strategy.

Cybersecurity will shift from a purely technical function to one that inherently carries a significant amount of business responsibility. Coordination between stakeholders, departments, software systems, and processes will become an essential part of cyber resilience. Cybersecurity will no longer be solely an IT responsibility but will instead be reframed as a strategic and business-wide imperative.

CEOs must also better understand the role of the CISO to enable this transition. Only by working together can they redefine this role into one of strategic decision-making. When done well, this will align board-level reporting and long-term business growth with security initiatives. This shift reframes cybersecurity from a defensive cost center to a business enabler that protects brand reputation and shareholder value.

2026 will require businesses to develop a proactive strategy instead of reactive firefighting to stay compliant with global and regional regulations. AI-powered attacks will continue to accelerate in both volume and precision, and IoT expansion will multiply vulnerabilities and create new points for attackers at scale. However, adding more security tools without a cohesive strategy will not lead to meaningful progress, and thus, the CISO role will become an increasingly strategic position within the C-suite, shaping business reputation and value. Businesses must ultimately reconsider how prepared they are to adapt and respond to the evolving threat landscape to ensure success in the year ahead.