Cybercrime is ever evolving, and, unfortunately, it’s only becoming more sophisticated, with even large players being hit with cyberattacks. In 2025 alone, it’s estimated that the global cost of cybercrime will exceed $10 trillion. With this number expected to increase year on year, there’s no time to waste. You need to know the emerging threats and how to protect against them. In 2026, the top six trends to watch out for include:
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SaaS Attacks
Software as a Service has been a game changer for ramping up capabilities without needing to simultaneously increase server investment. It’s the fastest and arguably easiest way to add new tools that, more often than not, can integrate with other existing software used by your business.
It’s also at risk. This is largely because companies believe that it’s the SaaS developer’s responsibility to protect their data and systems. While yes, the developer is responsible for creating robust security protections, the fact is that there are several SaaS security risks and loopholes that you need to be aware of in advance.
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Phishing Attacks
Phishing attacks use sophisticated tools like malicious URLs, compromised third-party accounts, malware, or ransomware to attack systems. The concerning part here is that with AI, old-school methods of detecting suspicious-looking emails are now obsolete. Furthermore, there’s also the risk of verification methods being compromised.
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Deepfake Cyberattacks
Deepfakes or synthetic cyberattacks are also becoming more common. You may get an email containing suspicious content, for example, and a link to a video call to confirm it with your superiors. You click on the link, and lo and behold, you’re on a conference call with the higher-ups. Only, they’re not real people at all; they’re AI creations impersonating the real people you know.
This is happening right now, and it’s becoming incredibly common. In a poll, more than 53% of finance professionals have been targeted by such attacks, and worse, 43% of respondents admitted having fallen victim to it.
With Google’s new Nano Banana Pro, which provides exceptionally accurate generated images using real human references, this risk will only exponentially increase.
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Agentic AI Attacks
AI will be at the forefront of all cybersecurity risks in 2026, particularly with the rise of agentic AIs, which can work autonomously to accomplish a set goal without frequent prompts. These AI agents work by scanning networks, developing adaptive and personalized phishing scams, and even executing sophisticated attacks—again, without direct human intervention. This means that a criminal can set their AI agents to work 24/7 without a break. These agentic AIs are also introducing new attack vectors, including model hijacking or prompt injection.
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Ransomware-as-a-Service
Ransomware is no longer an individual threat, thanks to new ransomware-as-a-service providers who have given even non-technical users the ability to launch ransomware attacks. This means that businesses need to expect an increase in ransomware and malware attacks.
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Harvest Now, Decrypt Later
Criminals are banking on quantum computing, which means they’re now taking a “harvest now, decrypt later” approach that essentially means they’ll happily steal your encrypted datasets with the expectation they can decrypt it later and use it. To prevent this, businesses will need to update and improve their encryption methods ASAP.