Fortinet's FortiGuard Labs 2026 Cyberthreat Predictions Report reveals a fundamental shift in the Global Security Landscape:

Cybercrime has evolved from opportunistic attacks into an industrialized system operating at machine speed.

Threat actors now leverage AI, automation, and specialized Crime-as-a-Service platforms to compress the attack lifecycle from days to hours—or even minutes.

This transformation means adversaries can launch multiple sophisticated campaigns simultaneously, using AI to parse stolen data, identify high-value targets, and execute extortion before victims even detect the breach.

For security leaders, the implications are stark:

• Traditional defense strategies built on linear response cycles can no longer match the velocity of parallel, automated attacks
• The report emphasizes that 2026 will be defined not by novel attack techniques, but by the refinement and acceleration of existing ones
• Ransomware affiliates, access brokers, and data resellers now operate as interconnected suppliers in mature underground marketplaces, enabling even low-skilled actors to deploy enterprise-grade attacks with turnkey infrastructure