Fortinet today released its 2026 Cyberthreat Predictions Report, forecasting a year in which cybercrime becomes faster, more automated, and more industrialized than ever before. Each year, FortiGuard Labs examines how technological advances, economic pressures, and human behaviour intersect to shape global risk. The 2026 predictions outline a pivotal shift: cybercrime is evolving into a high-throughput industry where success is measured not by innovation, but by how quickly intelligence can be converted into action.
From Innovation to Throughput
With AI, automation, and a fully matured cybercrime supply chain accelerating intrusion, attackers will focus less on inventing new tools and more on refining and scaling those that already work. AI systems will handle reconnaissance, speed up intrusion, analyze stolen data, and even craft ransom negotiations. Autonomous agents operating across the dark web will begin to execute major portions of attacks with minimal human involvement.
As a result, attacker capacity will grow exponentially. Ransomware affiliates that once managed a handful of campaigns will soon be able to run dozens in parallel. The window between a breach and its impact will contract dramatically—from days to minutes—making speed the defining variable of cyber risk in 2026.
“The findings clearly show that cybercrime is no longer an opportunistic activity, it is an industrialized system operating at machine speed. As automation, specialization, and AI redefine every stage of the attack lifecycle, the time between compromise and consequence continues to collapse. The road ahead will be shaped by how quickly defenders can adapt to this reality. Cybersecurity has become a race of systems, not individuals, and organizations will need integrated intelligence, continuous validation, and real-time response to stay ahead of adversaries who measure success by throughput, not novelty,” says Rashish Pandey, Vice President – Marketing & Communications, APAC, Fortinet
“For defenders, the shift we are seeing is profound. Static configurations and periodic assessments can’t keep pace with an environment where attackers automate reconnaissance, privilege escalation, and extortion in minutes. What organizations need is a unified, adaptive security posture, one that brings together threat intelligence, exposure management, and incident response into a continuous, AI-enabled workflow. At Fortinet, our focus is on helping customers build this level of resilience so they can act at the same speed as the threats they face and strengthen their ability to contain attacks before disruption occurs,” says Vivek Srivastava, Country Manager, India & SAARC, Fortinet
The Next Generation of Offense
FortiGuard Labs expects a rise in specialized AI agents built to assist cybercriminal operations. Although these agents will not yet operate fully independently, they will automate critical phases of the attack chain such as credential theft, lateral movement, and data monetization.
AI will also accelerate how quickly stolen data can be monetized. Once attackers access a database, AI tools will instantly classify, prioritize, and identify the most profitable victims while generating personalized extortion messages. As the underground economy becomes more advanced, the coming year will see tailored botnet rentals, curated credential packages, customer-service-like features, reputation scoring, and automated escrow mechanisms—all signs of a cybercrime ecosystem evolving toward full industrialization.
The Evolution of Defense
To counter this industrialized threat landscape, defenders must operate with the same speed and coordination. In 2026, security operations will increasingly rely on what FortiGuard Labs calls machine-speed defence—a continuous loop of intelligence, validation, and containment that reduces detection and response time from hours to minutes.
Frameworks such as continuous threat exposure management (CTEM) and MITRE ATT&CK will become essential for mapping active threats, identifying exposures, and prioritizing remediation. Identity will emerge as the foundation of security operations, with organisations needing to authenticate not only human users, but also automated agents, machine-to-machine processes, and AI workflows. Managing these non-human identities will be vital to preventing privilege escalation and systemic data leakage.
Collaboration and Deterrence
As cybercrime becomes industrialized, global collaboration will be essential. Initiatives like INTERPOL’s Operation Serengeti 2.0—supported by Fortinet and other private partners—demonstrate how intelligence sharing and coordinated disruption can dismantle sophisticated criminal networks. New programs, such as the Fortinet–Crime Stoppers International Cybercrime Bounty initiative, will help the public safely report threats and contribute to global deterrence.
FortiGuard Labs also anticipates increased investment in programs aimed at deterring young or at-risk individuals from entering cybercrime. Redirection and early intervention will be key to preventing the next generation of cybercriminals from joining the ecosystem.
Looking Ahead
By 2027, FortiGuard Labs predicts that cybercrime will scale to levels comparable with major global industries. Offense will see deeper automation through agentic AI, enabling swarm-based agents to coordinate activities semi-autonomously and adapt to defender behaviour. Sophisticated supply-chain attacks targeting AI systems and embedded technologies will also rise.
Defenders will need to match these advancements by integrating predictive intelligence, automation, and exposure management into unified systems capable of anticipating attacker behaviour and containing incidents at unprecedented speed. The next era of cybersecurity will depend on how effectively humans and machines can collaborate as adaptive, real-time defence systems.
Velocity and scale will define the decade ahead. Organisations that integrate intelligence, automation, and human expertise into a unified system will be best positioned to withstand the escalating wave of cyber threats.