Summary: The Picus Labs Red Report 2026 highlights a definitive shift in the threat landscape. Ransomware and file encryption are being deprioritized by top-tier attackers in favor of “Identity Hijacking.” Attackers are now focused on stealing session tokens and bypassing MFA to remain silent and persistent within cloud environments.
Business Impact: High. Traditional “Ransomware Protection” (backups) won’t help if an attacker is silently using an executive’s identity to sign off on fraudulent wires or steal trade secrets over months. This requires a shift from “File Security” to “Behavioral Identity Analytics.”
Why It Happened: Enterprises have become better at recovering from encryption (backups), making it less profitable for attackers. However, “Identity” remains the weakest link in the cloud-first, hybrid-work era.
Recommended Executive Action: Prioritize the deployment of “Identity Threat Detection and Response” (ITDR) tools. Move beyond simple MFA to “Phishing-Resistant” hardware keys (FIDO2) for all privileged accounts.
Hashtags: #IdentitySecurity #RedReport2026 #MFA #CyberThreats #CloudSecurity #IAM