Introduction
The threat landscape is evolving at pace, and emerging technologies are reshaping how we work — leaving cyber teams and boards facing challenges that look dramatically different from just a year ago.
2026 will be the year that cyber security stops being treated as a technical discipline and becomes recognised for what it truly is: a core pillar of business resilience.
Boards are no longer asking how many attacks you stopped. They will focus on recovery speed, causes of failure, and risk ownership.
This article spotlights five predictions that show where organisations and chief information security officers (CISOs) should focus in 2026 to maintain trust with boards, regulators, and customers.
1. AI Security Moves from Pilot to Enterprise Reality
Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a testbed technology. It is now integrated into core business processes — email security, development pipelines, customer support, and finance operations.
Attackers are harnessing the same capabilities to scale phishing, fraud, reconnaissance, and impersonation at breathtaking speed.
Consequently AI is simultaneously becoming both a powerful control layer and a dangerous attack surface.
When AI fails, it does so quietly, often through subtle data exposure and automated actions. The challenge really is: What visibility and control do you have over the AI tools your employees are using?
Reality Check
Most organisations already run AI tools without full visibility. Data exposure often occurs through prompts, training inputs, or automated outputs, with security teams only detecting compromise after data has left organisational control.
CISO Priorities
- Secure models, agents, data pipelines, and prompts
- Prevent data leakage across AI tools
- Govern AI use without crushing innovation
- Use AI to boost defence and response at scale
What Leadership Wants
In 2026 we are seeing leadership teams expecting clear ownership of AI risk, defined boundaries, and traceable decision making. More than ever, uncontrolled AI use is now seen as a failure of operational discipline.
2. Resilience Overtakes Prevention
In 2026 attacks will no longer stop at initial compromise. We are seeing the rise of ransomware, destructive tooling, identity attacks, and backup sabotage aimed at disabling recovery itself.
Boards, regulators, and customers now judge organisations by how fast they detect, effectively contain, and restore operations — not whether they were breached.
Prevention is necessary, but real credibility comes from resilience under pressure — it is key to robustly and realistically test crisis plans like never before.
Reality Check
Many attacks begin with credential abuse or supplier misuse.
Recovery plans often crumble once attackers disable identity or backups.
CISO Priorities
- Operate with an assumed‑compromise mindset
- Strengthen detection and recovery paths
- Align recovery plans to business outcome needs
- Run regular simulations and stress tests
What Leadership Wants
In 2026, in light of the high-profile breaches witnessed in 2025, boards and leadership teams are laser focussed on resilience and expect assurance of timely recovery that holds up during real-world attacks, not theoretical testing.
3. Supply Chain Risk Remains the Weakest Link
Businesses rely on an ecosystem of suppliers, tools, and platforms to operate, but with this comes deep, trusted access to their systems.
We are seeing the rise of third-party supply chain attacks, as attackers exploit that trust to bypass controls and jump straight into privileged environments.
This is not about the number of vendors — it is about unmanaged access, unclear ownership, and weak contractual obligations. Third-party risk is often assessed as a point in time exercise — not a live risk, meaning many organisations do not have a clear view of their third-party risk exposure. 2026 will bring a drive to “real time,” live Third-Party Risk Management (TPRM), which actively manages vendor access. Having contingency plans and understanding the impact flow of third-party breaches is crucial.
Reality Check
Most organisations know who their vendors are but cannot see how they access internal systems.
Compromise typically starts with remote tools, shared credentials, or hidden integrations.
CISO Priorities
- Continuous third‑party risk monitoring
- Enforce minimum security baselines
- Build resilience requirements into contracts
- Apply zero‑trust models to all external access
What Leadership Wants
Leadership teams seek confidence that the supplier risk profile is actively managed with trust being validated, and access limited or revoked instantly when risk emerges.
4. Deepfakes Create a New Trust Crisis
We are seeing the advances in AI drive a rise in deepfake voice, video, and text which is enabling highly targeted social engineering attacks — with no malware needed.
Executives, suppliers, and trusted partners are being convincingly impersonated to trigger payments, data releases, or system access.
The improvement in technology driving these attacks means traditional awareness training simply does not cut it anymore. These attacks rely on authority, urgency, and familiarity, so a focus on a different kind of education around verification is now essential.
Reality Check
Most successful fraud still comes from social engineering.
Deepfakes supercharge urgency and authority exploitation.
CISO Priorities
- Strong executive identity verification
- Verified communication channels for critical decisions
- Cross‑functional alignment with legal, comms, and fraud teams
What Leadership Wants
2026 will be the year that verification becomes the new foundation of trust. Certainty over speed will drive a positive outcome for these kinds of attacks, with organisations needing to rethink security awareness training.
5. Governance Tightens Under Regulatory Pressure
With regulators shifting from policy-based expectations to outcome-based accountability, boards are now directly responsible for cyber incidents, weak oversight, and failed recovery.
This means activity metrics are no longer enough.
Governance breaks down when disparate ownership scatters across cyber, AI, and operational resilience. A cohesive, cross-organisation stakeholder approach is essential in 2026 — siloed governance will not protect your organisation.
Reality Check
Most organisations still measure activity, not effectiveness.
Evidence lives in silos, leading to ineffective governance and compliance.
CISO Priorities
- Demonstrable resilience
- Board reporting tied to business impact and outcomes
- Clear cross‑domain ownership
What Leadership Wants
More than ever, leadership will depend on a single, unified view of risk, ownership, and proven capability. Governance will move away from a tick box exercise, to drive a demonstrable evidence-based view of effectiveness.
What Success Looks Like in 2026
Visibility under pressure:
- Resilience is key – Shift from focussing on prevention to recovery. The true test will be how your organisation absorbs an incident and continues operating.
- Securely harness AI – Ensure that you have a realistic view of your AI risk, defined boundaries and guard rails, solid user education and traceable decision‑making.
- Actively manage your third-party access – Continuous third-party risk management is essential, as is contingency planning for key supplier third party breach incidents.
- Do not deepfake it ‘til you make it – Deepfakes are driving a trust crisis, so employee education and verification processes are essential.
- Use governance as an enabler – The regulatory environment is driving accountability. Harness your governance activities to drive cross functional governance that puts your effectiveness to the test.
In 2026, the threat landscape is becoming increasingly complex and demanding, but organisations that shift their focus toward resilience, preparedness, and visibility will be well-positioned for success.
© Copyright 2026. The views expressed herein are those of the author(s) and not necessarily the views of Ankura Consulting Group, LLC., its management, its subsidiaries, its affiliates, or its other professionals. Ankura is not a law firm and cannot provide legal advice.
