The biggest cyber threats of 2026 are already taking shape, and security teams agree on one clear danger. Agentic AI is fast becoming the top risk for organizations worldwide, raising alarms about how much control autonomous systems now hold and how little protection many of them have.
Agentic AI Emerges as the Top Cyber Target
Security leaders are entering 2026 with growing unease about agentic AI, a form of artificial intelligence that can act on its own with limited human input. Nearly half of respondents in a recent industry poll believe agentic AI will be the main target for cybercrime and nation state attacks by the end of the year.
Agentic AI systems now sit deep inside daily business operations. Companies rely on them for software development, factory planning, supply chain decisions, and predictive maintenance. These tools save time and money, but they also hold broad access to systems, data, and cloud services.
When attackers breach one agent, they can gain wide control across an entire network.
Security experts warn that many firms rushed these tools into production without basic safeguards. In some cases, developers reused open source code or poorly reviewed connectors just to meet deadlines. This speed left gaps that attackers are already probing.
One sentence stands out from many experts involved in the poll. The problem is not just what agentic AI can do, but what it can reach once it is compromised.
Shadow AI and Open Tools Widen the Risk
Another major concern tied to agentic AI is the rise of shadow AI. Employees often bring in AI tools without approval, linking them to work systems outside security oversight.
These tools may look harmless, but many require high level access to files, email, or cloud apps. Once connected, they act as silent doors into company systems.
Open source AI agents add more pressure. They evolve quickly, but many lack proper testing or long term support. Security teams often do not even know which agents are active inside their environment.
A single unmanaged AI agent can:
Pull sensitive data from multiple systems
Trigger actions across cloud services
Operate around the clock without human review
This silent scale makes attacks harder to detect and far more damaging.
Deepfakes Rise as a Weapon Against Top Leaders
While agentic AI tops the list, deepfakes are not far behind. Almost one third of respondents say deepfakes will become the main tool for attacks on large firms, government bodies, and senior leaders.
Deepfake scams have moved beyond novelty. High quality voice and video forgeries now appear in live calls, internal meetings, and urgent payment requests. In several known cases, fake executives convinced staff to transfer millions of dollars.
The shift in 2025 was clear. Deepfakes became cheaper, faster to create, and harder to spot. Attackers learned that human trust, not software flaws, is often the weakest link.
Many companies still lack clear response plans. Instead of trying to block every fake, security teams now focus on speed. Rapid detection and fast action can limit damage even when a fake slips through.
Boards Start Treating Cyber Risk as Business Risk
Only a small share of respondents believe boards will fully treat cyber risk as a top operational issue in 2026. Still, experts see signs of change.
High profile outages, data leaks, and AI driven failures have made cyber incidents impossible to ignore. When systems fail, revenue stops. When data leaks, trust breaks.
Agentic AI has pushed cyber risk from a tech problem into a boardroom issue.
Autonomous systems can now make decisions, move data, and trigger actions without human checks. A small error or a hidden attack can grow fast and spread wide.
Some boards rely too heavily on cyber insurance, assuming coverage will soften the blow. Security leaders warn this mindset creates false comfort. Insurance cannot restore lost trust or fix broken systems overnight.
Passwords and Passkeys Lag Behind the Threat
Despite years of warnings, passwords remain stubbornly common. Only one in ten respondents believe password elimination and passkeys will become standard in 2026.
This slow progress worries experts, especially as agentic AI spreads. Many AI systems rely on non human identities to access apps and data. These identities often use weak or poorly managed credentials.
Large software vendors already embed agentic features into core business tools. Security teams struggle to track how these systems authenticate and what they can touch.
Below is a simple snapshot of where priorities stand heading into 2026:
| Security Issue | Share of Respondents |
|---|---|
| Agentic AI attacks | 48% |
| Deepfake threats | 29% |
| Board level cyber focus | 13% |
| Password removal | 10% |
Passkeys have gained ground thanks to support from major tech firms, but full adoption remains slow. Many organizations still depend on staff training and email rules that attackers already know how to bypass.
What This Means for Everyday Users
These risks do not stay inside data centers. When agentic AI systems fail or get hijacked, customers feel it through service outages, leaked data, and financial losses.
Deepfakes can also reach individuals. Fake calls from banks, employers, or public offices are becoming harder to spot. Trust alone is no longer enough.
The coming year will test whether organizations can match AI growth with real security discipline. The tools promise speed and scale, but without strong access control and visibility, they also hand attackers new power.
2026 may be remembered as the year security either caught up with AI or fell further behind.
