With Gratitude

Standing on the
Shoulders of Giants

The State of Cybersecurity 2026 is not an isolated effort. It is a synthesis of the collective wisdom, tireless research, and open sharing of the global security community. We owe our insights to these pioneers.

The Community

The unsung heroes of our digital world
Open Source Maintainers

To the thousands of unseen individuals maintaining the digital infrastructure we all rely on.

Security Researchers

To those who tirelessly hunt for vulnerabilities to keep the internet safer for everyone.

Educational Content Creators

To the mentors, bloggers, and streamers making cyber knowledge accessible to all.

Agencies & Frameworks

CISA

For leading the national effort to understand, manage, and reduce risk to our cyber infrastructure.

NIST

For establishing the standards and frameworks that guide us toward a more secure digital future.

MITRE ATT&CK

For mapping the adversary landscape and helping us understand the 'how' and 'why' of attacks.

OWASP

For empowering developers and security professionals to build trustworthy software.

ENISA

For strengthening trust and security across the European Union's digital single market.

CIS

For the critical controls and benchmarks that form the bedrock of cyber defense.

ISO/IEC

For the international standards that professionalize information security management.

Intelligence & News

AlienVault OTX

For fostering a collaborative environment of open threat exchange.

Feedly

For providing the tools to curate and consume vital security intelligence.

Dark Reading

For consistent, high-quality journalism that keeps our community informed.

VirusTotal

For the indispensable service of analyzing suspicious files and URLs.

Shodan

For providing visibility into the internet-connected devices that surround us.

GreyNoise

For helping analysts filter out the background noise of the internet.

Research & Reports

Cybersecurity Ventures

For crucial research into the global cyber economy and labor market.

Verizon DBIR

For the annual deep-dive into data breaches that grounds our understanding in reality.

IBM Security

For comprehensive analysis on the financial impact of data breaches.

World Economic Forum

For contextualizing cyber risk within the broader landscape of global challenges.

Mandiant M-Trends

For frontline intelligence on the latest attacker tactics and dwell times.

CrowdStrike Global Threat

For detailed breakdowns of the adversary universe and their tradecraft.

Microsoft Digital Defense

For analyzing the state of the cyber ecosystem at a planetary scale.

Palo Alto Unit 42

For world-class threat research and incident response insights.