2026 will test your cyber defences. Are you ready?

The world is stepping into 2026 with a digital tension that can be felt across boardrooms, data centres, and even living rooms. We have never been more connected, yet more exposed.

This year has revealed something unprecedented: cyberattacks no longer feel like distant headlines but like storms gathering on the horizon, each capable of sweeping across countries and industries within hours. 

A breach anywhere now matters everywhere. And as 2025 closes, one uncomfortable truth is impossible to ignore — most organisations are heading into the new year far less prepared than they believe.

The events of 2025 have been a harsh wake-up call. In South Korea, Coupang's breach of more than 33 million users did not stem from a sophisticated exploit, but from a simple breakdown in off-boarding. An internal encryption key that should have been disabled remained active long after its owner left the company.

In Japan, the Asahi Group faced operational disruption and leaked personal data after a ransomware attack crippled its systems. And in the United Kingdom, a childcare centre suffered a breach exposing the personal details and photographs of more than eight thousand children — all triggered by a single phishing email.

These incidents underscore a painful reality: even well-funded institutions falter when the fundamentals of cybersecurity are neglected. If giants stumble so easily, what does that imply for thousands of organisations across emerging and fast-digitising economies?

The statistics reinforce this fragility. Ransomware remains the dominant global threat, with nearly half of security leaders citing it as their most urgent concern. The average cost of a data breach now sits around $4.4 million — an amount capable of wiping out many small or mid-sized enterprises.

Industries once peripheral to cybercrime, such as manufacturing, healthcare, and education, are now squarely in the crosshairs. Bangladesh has made commendable progress in digital governance and capacity-building, yet its global cybersecurity maturity ranking indicates that its expanding digital ecosystem remains vulnerable. The same pattern holds across advanced economies: digital development continues to accelerate while digital protection struggles to keep pace.

This tension is amplified by the rapid evolution of technology itself. Cloud adoption, remote work, AI-driven automation, and global outsourcing are transforming organisations faster than traditional risk frameworks can adjust.

Attackers have adapted quickly. Instead of attempting to break through complex, fortified perimeters, they increasingly exploit the softer underbelly of modern enterprise environments: human error, neglected access rights, misconfigured cloud buckets, and forgotten vendor connections. Today, most breaches do not require highly sophisticated malware — only opportunity. And too often, organisations create that opportunity themselves.

Perhaps the most dangerous misconception is the belief that cybersecurity is a technical issue to be delegated to the IT department. In reality, the seeds of a breach are sown much earlier: through budgeting decisions, digital expansion plans, vendor selections, staffing choices, and organisational culture.

A cyber incident does not begin with malware; it begins with assumptions. When leadership treats cybersecurity as an operational footnote rather than a strategic priority, they unknowingly write the first paragraph of their future incident report.

As 2026 approaches, organisations must embrace a new mindset: cyber incidents are not rare disruptions but predictable events. The organisations that will withstand them are not those with the flashiest tools, but those that have invested in resilience.

They know which operations must continue even when systems fail, which services can pause without catastrophic impact, and which teams must coordinate under pressure. 

They have practised crisis communication, legal reporting, technical containment, and customer messaging — not once, but repeatedly. Resilience is no longer a luxury; it is the backbone of modern business continuity.

People remain at the centre of this ecosystem. Social engineering continues to be the most consistent attack vector of the year — whether through emails impersonating government agencies, fake invoices, or phone calls demanding verification codes.

Annual, compliance-based cybersecurity training is increasingly irrelevant. Organisations that thrive in 2026 will be those that cultivate a culture of vigilance — empowering employees to question, report, and act, transforming them from potential liabilities into active defenders.

Artificial intelligence adds another layer of complexity. While AI promises efficiency and innovation, it also introduces new risks. Organisations are increasingly feeding external AI tools with sensitive data without considering where that data is stored or how it might be misused.

Others deploy AI-driven decision systems without assessing whether they can be manipulated, poisoned, or exploited. This emerging "AI oversight gap" is rapidly becoming one of the most significant security weaknesses across global enterprises. In 2026, organisations must formalise AI governance, maintain clear inventories of AI usage, and integrate security into every stage of AI deployment.

Cybersecurity is often described in metaphors of warfare, but its foundation lies in consistency, discipline, and culture. It is built on strong identity controls, timely patching, secure configurations, realistic training, and well-rehearsed response strategies.

For countries like Bangladesh, which are rapidly transforming through digital finance, e-governance, and global outsourcing, embracing these principles is not optional — it is essential for sustaining public trust, protecting national infrastructure, and attracting international investment.

Cybersecurity in 2026 will not reward organisations that simply talk about security. It will reward those that take responsibility — those that prepare, practise, challenge their assumptions, and embed cybersecurity into every layer of their operations.

Threats will escalate faster than leadership comfort levels, and complacency will be the silent breach companies never detect until it is too late.

Attackers already have their strategy for 2026. They are organised, well-resourced, and waiting for the smallest lapse. The decisive question for every organisation — from a global financial institution to a garment factory in Gazipur, from a tech startup in Auckland to a healthcare provider in Toronto — is brutally simple: When the test comes, will you withstand it, or will you only recognise your weaknesses in the moment they are exploited?

The new year is not merely a shift in the calendar. It is an audit of our digital maturity. Those who act now will enter 2026 prepared. Those who delay may discover a harsh truth: in the age of relentless cyber threats, tomorrow often arrives too late.

B M Zahid ul Haque is an experienced CISO and Global Cyber Digital Transformation Adviser. He can be reached at bmzahidul.haque@gmail.com.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily reflect the opinions and views of The Business Standard.