As we enter 2026, UK businesses face an increasingly complex and dynamic cybersecurity landscape. For organisations, the stakes have never been higher. Cyber threats are evolving rapidly, driven by advances in artificial intelligence (AI), expanding supply chain vulnerabilities, and the sophistication of collaboration among threat actors. At the same time, regulatory frameworks are tightening, demanding greater cyber resilience and governance.
This article provides an outlook on cybersecurity risks for 2026, highlighting key trends, emerging threats, and critical considerations for cyber insurance. Our goal is to equip senior professionals and board members with actionable insights to navigate the challenges ahead.
2025 in review: A year of escalating threats and shifting tactics
The past year marked a pivotal moment in the evolution of cyber risk. Cloud intrusions surged significantly, while voice phishing (vishing) attacks doubled, signalling a shift toward more personalised and effective social engineering campaigns. Interactive intrusions, including hands-on-keyboard attacks that require real-time human operation, increased by 27% year-over-year, according to one estimate, underscoring the growing sophistication of adversaries.
Ransomware gangs continued to leak data in 2025. Groups such as Scattered Spider (later known as Scattered Lapsus Hunters) employed multi-pronged extortion tactics, combining distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks with media pressure to maximise their impact.
Artificial intelligence emerged as a double-edged sword. While defenders continue to harness AI for threat detection and response, attackers are increasingly leveraging generative AI to automate social engineering, develop polymorphic malware (malicious software that changes its code each time it replicates), and create synthetic personas for deception (a fake identity using a mix of genuine and fabricated information). We are beginning to see adversaries use AI tools to accelerate reconnaissance and exploit development and post-compromise operations.
Supply chain attacks doubled in frequency in 2025, according to one source, which highlighted how attackers exploit trusted vendor relationships to infiltrate downstream systems.
High-profile attacks on prominent British brands maximised disruption, causing significant impact not only to the organisations themselves but also to third-party individuals and businesses. These incidents received extensive media coverage, in part due to direct engagement by threat actors with media outlets, which helped amplify their impact.
Regulatory momentum accelerated with the announcement of the UK Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, increased adoption of Cyber Essentials certification, and heightened board-level focus on cyber risk governance.