The chaotic rise of AI, geopolitical tensions, regulatory volatility and an accelerating threat landscape are the driving forces behind the top cybersecurity trends for 2026, according to Gartner.
“Cybersecurity leaders are navigating uncharted territory this year as these forces converge, testing the limits of their teams in an environment defined by constant change,” said Alex Michaels, Director Analyst at Gartner. “This demands new approaches to cyber risk management, resilience and resource allocation.”
The following six trends will have broad impact across transforming governance, securing new frontiers and normalising AI adoption.
Trend 1: Agentic AI demands cybersecurity oversight
Agentic AI is rapidly being used by employees and developers, creating new attack surfaces. No-code/low-code platforms and vibe coding expand this further, driving unmanaged AI agent proliferation, unsecured code and potential regulatory compliance violations.
“While AI agents and automation tools are becoming increasingly accessible and practical for organisations to adopt, strong governance remains essential,” said Michaels. “Cybersecurity leaders must identify both sanctioned and unsanctioned AI agents, enforce robust controls for each and develop incident response playbooks to address potential risks.”
Trend 2: Global regulatory volatility drives cyber resilience efforts
Shifting geopolitical landscapes and evolving global mandates have made cybersecurity a critical business risk with direct implications for organisational resilience. With regulators increasingly holding boards and executives liable for compliance failures, inaction can result in substantial penalties, lost business and irreversible reputational damage.
Gartner advises cybersecurity leaders to formalise collaboration across legal, business and procurement teams to establish clear accountability for cyber risk. Aligning control frameworks to recognised standards and addressing data sovereignty concerns will help reduce compliance gaps.
Trend 3: Postquantum computing moves into action plans
Gartner predicts advances in quantum computing will render the asymmetric cryptography organisations rely on to secure data and systems unsafe by 2030. Postquantum cryptography alternatives must be adopted now to avoid potential data breaches, legal liability and financial loss from “harvest now, decrypt later” attacks targeting long-term sensitive data.
“Postquantum cryptography is reshaping cybersecurity strategies by prompting organisations to identify, manage and replace traditional encryption methods, while prioritising cryptographic agility,” said Michaels. “By investing in these capabilities and prioritising migration now, assets will be secured when quantum threats become a reality.”
Trend 4: Identity and access management adapts to AI agents
The rise of AI agents is introducing new challenges to traditional identity and access management (IAM) strategies, especially in identity registration and governance, credential automation and policy-driven authorisation for machine actors. Failure to address these issues will lead to greater risk of access-related cybersecurity incidents as autonomous agents become more prevalent.
Gartner recommends taking a targeted, risk-based approach, by investing where gaps and risks are greatest while leveraging automation where possible. This is essential for enabling innovation, ensuring compliance and securing critical assets in AI-centric environments.
Trend 5: AI-driven SOC solutions destabilise operational norms
Driven by cost optimisation practices and increasing interest in AI, the emergence of AI-enabled security operations centres (SOCs) is introducing new complexity. This is contributing to staffing pressures, increased upskilling demands and evolving cost considerations for AI tools, even as these technologies enhance alert triage and investigation workflows.
“To realise the full potential of AI in security operations, cybersecurity leaders must prioritise people as much as technology,” said Michaels. “Strengthening workforce capabilities, implementing human-in-the-loop frameworks into AI-supported processes and aligning adoption with clear strategic objectives will be critical to maintaining resilience as SOCs evolve.”
Trend 6: GenAI breaks traditional cybersecurity awareness tactics
Existing security awareness efforts continue to fail to reduce cybersecurity risks as GenAI adoption accelerates. A Gartner survey of 175 employees conducted between May and November 2025 indicates over 57% use personal GenAI accounts for work purposes and 33% admit inputting sensitive information into unapproved tools.
Gartner recommends shifting from general awareness training to adaptive behavioral and training programmes that include AI-specific tasks. Strengthening governance, embedding secure practices and establishing policies for authorised use will reduce exposure to privacy breaches and intellectual property loss.
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