Fortinet Cyberthreat Predictions for 2026: industrialized cybercrime, faster attacks

In two minutes

• The report's main claim is that 2026 threats will differ in speed and scale, not in new techniques: attackers will focus on throughput from reconnaissance to monetization (p. 3).
• It predicts purpose-built autonomous cybercrime agents for tasks such as credential theft, phishing and lateral movement, running parts of the attack chain without human oversight (p. 4).
• GenAI is expected to speed up extortion by analyzing stolen data in minutes, prioritizing victims and writing tailored extortion messages at scale (p. 5).
• Other offensive predictions: ransomware-as-a-service expanding into OT, criminals reusing destructive firmware techniques, more insider recruitment through coercion or payment, and botnets sold as ready-made access (p. 5).
• On defense, it says identity becomes the core of security operations, with every automated action needing its own identity and non-human identities under least-privilege, time-bound access (pp. 6-7).
• It recommends threat-informed defense built on MITRE ATT&CK and CTEM, with continuous validation and integrated EDR, NDR, SIEM and SOAR so detection and containment happen in minutes (pp. 6-8).
• It also forecasts more public-private disruption work, such as bounty programs and youth deterrence, and frames the skills gap as a specialization mismatch (pp. 7-8).
• The report is forecast and opinion. It gives no original data, survey or sample.

Key numbers

• more than $23 trillion: expected average annual cost of cybercrime by 2027, as attributed to the World Economic Forum (p. 5).
• 10 attacks: illustrative example of what a ransomware affiliate could launch in the time one once took to coordinate (p. 3).

What to do with it

• Review whether detection and containment targets are set in minutes, since the report says readiness will be measured by acting at AI-level speed (p. 4, p. 7).
• Inventory non-human identities (automation agents, CI/CD ephemeral identities, AI processes) and apply unique credentials, least privilege and time-bound access, as the report advises (p. 7).
• Monitor identity behavior across EDR, NDR, SIEM, SOAR and CNAPP, and set governance and audit controls for automated identities touching regulated data (p. 7).
• Use NDR, EDR and CTEM together to look for unusual data movement and early signs of AI-assisted extortion (p. 5).
• Map active threats to MITRE ATT&CK and validate controls against observed techniques through continuous testing or simulation (p. 6).
• Plan for insider-recruitment risk, since the report expects ransomware operators to target employees through coercion, blackmail or payment (p. 5).

Read the full document if

• you need a vendor's view of where AI-driven attacks are heading in 2026 for planning or board talking points.
• you want the report's argument on non-human identity as the center of security operations (pp. 6-7).
• you want to see how Fortinet frames CTEM and integrated SecOps against industrialized attackers.

What it relies on

The report rests on FortiGuard Labs' own analysis and judgment. It states no sample, period or method. It cites one outside source, a 2023 World Economic Forum article, for the $23 trillion figure (p. 9). It reviews how its 2025 predictions held up, without figures (p. 4). Fortinet sells security products of the kind it recommends, including EDR, NDR, SIEM, SOAR and threat intelligence. It also says it supports INTERPOL-led operations and works with law enforcement and academia (pp. 7-8).

Our read

A short forecast useful for framing 2026 planning discussions, especially on machine-speed response and non-human identity. It offers no data to size any of the predicted threats, so treat the claims as the publisher's expectations. The defensive advice is general and tied to a product-oriented set of controls.