As global tensions increase and digital technologies continue to evolve at pace, cyber resilience is no longer simply an IT concern; it’s a matter of national security.
With the release of the 2026 Government Cyber Action Plan, protecting the UK’s interests will depend less on traditional perimeter security and far more on adaptive, intelligence-led, and well-integrated cyber defences.
Below are key cyber resilience trends you should be preparing for in the year ahead:
1. Generative AI Becomes a Weapon
Artificial intelligence is reshaping cyber operations, enabling adversaries to act faster, at greater scale, and with increasing sophistication.
Autonomous attack agents
AI-driven tools and large language models can already identify vulnerabilities, generate exploits, and launch attacks with minimal human involvement. By 2026, self-directing attack agents are expected to drive a noticeable rise in both the frequency and complexity of cyber incidents affecting government and defence systems.
Deepfake-enabled social engineering
AI-generated audio, video, and text are now realistic enough to convincingly impersonate trusted individuals. Threat actors will increasingly use deepfakes to pose as senior officials, defence suppliers, or partner organisations – targeting UK defence supply chains and public sector staff with highly tailored fraud, espionage, and influence campaigns.
2. Zero Trust Becomes the Baseline; including operational technology
The principle of Zero Trust: “never trust, always verify”, is rapidly becoming a core security requirement across UK government and defence environments.
Zero Trust for operational technology (OT)
Guidance from the UK Ministry of Defence and close allies is accelerating Zero Trust adoption across operational technology, including weapons platforms, industrial control systems, and critical national infrastructure. Securing legacy and mission-critical OT through micro-segmentation and continuous authentication will be one of the most demanding cyber challenges of 2026.
Continuous trust and risk assessment
Effective Zero Trust relies on real-time insight into users, devices, and behaviours. Continuous verification allows least-privilege access to be enforced dynamically, which is an essential capability for sensitive, distributed, and often operationally constrained environments.
3. Supply Chain Compromise Becomes the Default Risk:
Cyber risk across the supply chain is no longer just a technical issue; it is a leadership and governance responsibility.
Increasing regulatory and policy pressure
UK organisations will face growing expectations driven by the NCSC, Cabinet Office guidance, the Cyber Resilience Act in the EU, and emerging UK legislation. These requirements will demand stronger supplier assurance, improved incident reporting, and demonstrable cyber resilience across entire supply chains.
Software supply chain attacks at scale
Open-source software, shared components, and cloud services remain prime targets. A single compromised dependency can introduce malicious code into thousands of organisations simultaneously, making the supply chain the attacker’s entry point of choice.
What this means for defenders
Procurement and commercial teams should mandate recognised assurance standards such as Cyber Essentials, Cyber Essentials Plus, or ISO/IEC 27001, supported by clear contractual obligations covering incident response, resilience, and data protection.
Strategic Priorities for 2026
To stay ahead of this evolving threat landscape, we advise organisations focus on these five key priorities:
- Embed cyber resilience into leadership and culture: Treat cyber risk as a board-level concern. Align investment decisions to the most credible and impactful threats, and strengthen organisational resilience through regular, scenario-based incident response exercises across technical and executive teams.
- Map to the CAF: Align your security posture with the Cyber Assessment Framework to meet the Government Cyber Unit’s new visibility requirements.
- Audit your Software Supply Chain: Engage with the Software Security Ambassador Scheme to ensure your third-party dependencies meet the 2026 Code of Practice.
- Defend with AI, at AI speed: Move beyond traditional SIEM-centric approaches and adopt AI-driven security platforms that support real-time threat detection, automated response, and faster incident investigation.
- Operationalise Zero Trust: Apply established frameworks from the NCSC, MoD, and allied partners to implement identity-first access controls, starting with mission-critical IT and OT systems.
