10 priorities for cyber security experts in 2026

Digital transformation has increased the scale and speed of cyber risk. Cloud, edge, mobile and extended supply chains mean breaches now cause bigger operational, financial and reputational damage. Security teams must treat several “future” issues as immediate priorities. Below are ten practical, actionable priorities to build resilience through 2026.

1. Quantum readiness: inventory, assess, plan

• Inventory where cryptography is used across apps, databases, backups and archives.
• Identify long‑lived encrypted data that could be harvested now and decrypted later.
• Start phased plans for crypto‑agility and migration to quantum‑resistant algorithms. Don’t wait for a breakthrough — plan the switch now.

2. Embed regulation into operations

• Map which laws and standards apply across jurisdictions (NIS2, UK cyber proposals, sector rules).
• Bake compliance checks into core security processes rather than treating audits as one‑off tasks.
• Align legal, risk and security teams to move from reactive audits to continuous verification.

3. Rationalise your security platform

• Map tool overlap, blind spots and maintenance cost. Cut redundant point tools.
• Prefer integrated platforms with open APIs and orchestration for faster detection and response.
• Prioritise solutions that reduce manual handoffs and support automation.

4. Move to human‑centred, continuous awareness

• Replace once‑a‑year training with continuous, role‑specific learning and simulated attacks.
• Score users by behaviour and integrate those scores into risk models.
• Measure outcomes by reduced risky behaviour and incident rates, not just completion percentages.

5. Pilot privacy‑enhancing technologies (PETs)

• Identify data workflows for PETs (confidential computing, homomorphic encryption, MPC).
• Pilot PETs where they reduce regulatory or commercial exposure without harming analytics.
• Use PETs to help cross‑border data sharing while lowering compliance friction.

6. Harden help‑desk identity recovery

• Tighten verification for resets and account recovery; treat help‑desk flows as sensitive controls.
• Log and monitor recovery requests for anomalous patterns.
• Apply least privilege to limit support team access during recovery.

7. Treat state‑linked threats as enterprise risk

• Expand threat models to include nation‑state and hybrid actors, and third‑party spillover.
• Exercise scenarios that assume prolonged disruption and supply‑chain impacts.
• Strengthen resilience controls for recovery and continuity, not just detection.

8. Secure across cloud, edge and on‑premises

• Consolidate logging and monitoring so you see cross‑environment attack paths.
• Enforce consistent identity and access policies across cloud and edge nodes.
• Adopt cloud‑native security patterns that extend to edge deployments.

9. Automate security across DevOps (DevSecOps)

• Embed security gates into CI/CD: SAST/DAST, dependency checks and policy enforcement.
• Automate playbooks for triage and remediation; integrate with incident response.
• Track shared metrics that tie development speed to security outcomes.

10. Make identity the new perimeter

• Extend identity governance to all users, service accounts and devices.
• Enforce multi‑factor and adaptive authentication everywhere.
• Use real‑time identity risk scoring to make dynamic access decisions.

Conclusion — act now, focus on resilience

These priorities are not optional projects. They are the foundation of a resilient security programme for 2026. Start with inventories, automate where possible, and align compliance with operations. Small, sustained changes now reduce risk and make future transitions far easier.

If you need help converting these priorities into training and roll‑out plans for HR and frontline teams, the Astute e‑Learning platform automates policy training, tracks completion and produces board‑ready reports.

Looking for more support on cyber security? Join VinciWorks webinar on 4 March 2026 on preparing for the UK’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill – contact us to register

More information

To find out if Astute E-Learning is right for your business click the button below to request more information and one of our consultants will be in touch shortly.

Alternatively contact us on 0330 223 6180 or via email enquiries@Peoplefirsthr.co.uk .