When sharing our insights on cybersecurity in the year ahead, we never make “crystal ball” predictions. Instead, we focus on the real-world trends and data we are observing right now, to provide clear, realistic expectations on what will likely be the biggest trends and challenges.
Our Cybersecurity Forecast 2026 report focuses on three key themes: adversary and defender use of artificial intelligence, cybercrime as the most disruptive global threat, and continued operations by nation state actors to achieve their strategic goals.
Insights were gathered from security leaders across Google Cloud, including Sandra Joyce, VP of Google Threat Intelligence, Charles Carmakal, Chief Technology Officer of Mandiant Consulting, and Jon Ramsey, VP & GM of Google Cloud Security.
The report also features expertise from dozens of researchers, analysts, responders and experts across numerous Google Cloud security teams, including Google Threat Intelligence Group, Mandiant Consulting, Google Security Operations, and Google Cloud’s Office of the CISO.
This unique, integrated frontline visibility—from Mandiant’s incident response to Google’s global threat intelligence—allows us to provide a comprehensive forecast of the threats and trends that matter most. Technology advances, threats evolve, the cybersecurity landscape changes, and defenders must adapt to it all if they want to keep up. The Google Cloud Cybersecurity Forecast 2026 report aims to help the cybersecurity industry frame its fight against cyber adversaries in 2026.
