TL;DR
Google Cloud published its Cybersecurity Forecast 2026 report on November 4, 2025, synthesizing frontline data and expert analysis to outline likely cyber threats and defensive priorities for the year ahead. The report highlights accelerated adversary use of AI, rising prompt-injection and AI-enabled social engineering risks, persistent ransomware/extortion activity, and nation-state campaigns that emphasize stealth and long-term objectives.
What happened
Google Cloud released the Cybersecurity Forecast 2026, a forward-looking report built from current trends, telemetry and input from Google Cloud security leaders and dozens of frontline experts. The analysis emphasizes that attackers will increasingly embed artificial intelligence into routine operations—using it to scale reconnaissance, craft social-engineering lures, and speed exploitation—while defenders adopt agentic AI to manage alerts and perform higher-level analysis. The report calls out specific AI-related risks including prompt-injection attacks against enterprise AI systems and AI-powered voice cloning used in vishing. Traditional criminal tactics remain prominent: ransomware combined with data theft and layered extortion are expected to grow, with attackers focusing on third-party providers and zero-day bugs. The piece also warns that adversaries are pivoting to compromise virtualization layers and that several nation-state programs (Russia, China, Iran, North Korea) will continue or shift toward longer-term, stealthier, or revenue-driven operations. Regional briefings for EMEA and JAPAC and a related webinar were also announced.
Why it matters
- AI is changing both offensive and defensive techniques; organizations must reassess threat models and operational controls for AI systems.
- Prompt-injection and AI-enabled social engineering could bypass conventional security controls and undermine trust in enterprise AI.
- Ransomware combined with data theft and extortion remains a major financial risk, especially via attacks on third-party providers and zero-days.
- Compromise of virtualization infrastructure can produce large-scale outages and is identified as a growing blind spot.
Key facts
- Report published by Google Cloud on November 4, 2025.
- Authored and posted by Adam Greenberg, Blog and Content Manager (Google Cloud).
- Forecasts are based on telemetry and input from Google Cloud security leaders and dozens of external experts, analysts, researchers and responders.
- Adversaries are expected to move from occasional to routine use of AI across the attack lifecycle.
- Prompt injection is identified as a rising, critical threat to enterprise AI deployments.
- AI-enabled social engineering, including voice-cloning vishing, is anticipated to increase in sophistication and frequency.
- Ransomware, data theft and multifaceted extortion remain the most financially disruptive cybercrimes; attackers will target third-party providers and zero-day vulnerabilities.
- Adversaries are pivoting toward underlying virtualization infrastructure as defenders harden guest OS controls.
- Nation-state activity: Russia shifting to longer-term strategic cyber goals; China continuing high-volume stealthy operations targeting edge devices and zero-days; Iran conducting resilient, semi-deniable campaigns; North Korea pursuing financial cyber operations and espionage.
- Google Cloud released complementary regional reports for EMEA and JAPAC and announced a webinar hosted by Andrew Kopcienski for deeper analysis.
What to watch next
- The volume and sophistication of prompt-injection attacks against enterprise AI systems.
- Widespread deployment of AI agents and corresponding changes to identity and access management to treat agents as separate digital actors.
- Increase in attacks against virtualization infrastructure and how organizations close that blind spot.
- Migration of core components of some criminal operations onto public blockchains to resist traditional takedowns.
Quick glossary
- Prompt injection: An attack that manipulates input to an AI system so it executes unintended or malicious commands, potentially bypassing safeguards.
- AI agent: Software entity that performs tasks autonomously or semi-autonomously, often acting across systems on behalf of users or services.
- Ransomware: Malware that encrypts or kidnaps data and systems to extort payment, often coupled with data theft and extortion demands.
- Virtualization infrastructure: Underlying hypervisor and management layers that host multiple virtual machines or containers and coordinate resource allocation.
- Identity and access management (IAM): Frameworks and tools used to manage user and system identities and control access to resources.
Reader FAQ
Who produced the Cybersecurity Forecast 2026 report?
Google Cloud produced the report, drawing on its security leaders and dozens of external experts.
When was the report released?
The report was published on November 4, 2025.
Does the report make exact predictions about future incidents?
No — the report states it is not a set of crystal-ball predictions but is grounded in observed trends and data.
Are there regional or follow-up resources?
Yes. The release includes special reports for EMEA and JAPAC and a webinar hosted by Andrew Kopcienski for further discussion.
Every November, we make it our mission to equip organizations with the knowledge needed to stay ahead of threats we anticipate in the coming year. The Cybersecurity Forecast 2026 report,…
Sources
- Preparing for Threats to Come: Cybersecurity Forecast 2026
- Preparing for Emerging Cybersecurity Threats 2026
- Cybersecurity at a Turning Point: Key Risks Facing …
- Google's 2026 Cybersecurity Forecast: Data Security, …
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