The 2026 threat landscape
The 2026 threat landscape
This year, some of the UK’s biggest businesses faced serious disruption from
cyber-attacks, and 2026 promises no respite. The landscape is set to intensify
as criminals weaponise AI to supercharge their strategies. We believe
businesses must brace for a wave of complex threats fuelled by expanding
attack surfaces and increasingly sophisticated adversaries.
Threats are evolving
The first major hurdle is the hyper-evolution of threats. AI-driven automation
means attacks are becoming faster, larger, and more adaptive. As the Time-to-
Exploit (TTE) shrinks, attackers can weaponise vulnerabilities quicker than
most organisations can blink. To keep pace, defenders must drastically cut
their Mean-time-to-Detect (MTTD) and Mean-time-to-Respond (MTTR). This
demands proactive threat monitoring and ITSM to prioritise risks before they
escalate. Crucially, patch management is no longer just admin, it is a race
against time. The moment a vendor releases a fix, the clock starts ticking, and
any delay offers attackers a window of opportunity.
Threats are difficult to see
There is also the challenge of visibility. Modern hybrid and cloud
environments offer flexibility but create a sprawling map that is difficult to
secure. You simply cannot protect what you cannot see. Security depends on
knowing exactly where infrastructure lives and what your normal looks like.
Only with up-to-date inventories and visualisation tools can businesses spot
the anomalies that signal a breach.
Threats are targeting remote workers
Finally, it has been said many times, but the remote workforce remains a
prime target. Every unmanaged device is a potential backdoor into your
organisation. The answer lies in robust connectivity controls and zero-trust
architectures. Access must rely on identity and context, not just location.
Mobile Device Management (MDM) is essential here, allowing centralised
control to enforce multi-factor authentication or remotely wipe compromised
hardware. Continuous monitoring helps shift the stance from reactive to
proactive.
In 2026, we believe that time is the defining metric. Whether it is the attacker’s
TTE or the defender’s response speed, all of those minutes matter. Gaining the
advantage requires proactive investment in automation and ensuring security
awareness is woven into the very DNA of the business.