This year’s cybersecurity landscape isn’t just about more threats, it’s about a convergence of technologies increasing risk for businesses. AI, identity and cloud have merged, creating a single, complex attack surface. At Hippo, we’ve spent years working with some of the UK’s largest public and private sector organisations to deliver vital digital transformation. Here is our take on the trends defining 2026.
1. AI novelty to AI Governance
The novelty of AI has worn off, replaced by the reality of its rapid evolution and ability to increase productivity. The importance of how it is governed is crucial for businesses due to the increasing threat of AI based attacks. Recent CrowdStrike reporting shows that the dwell time (the gap between an initial breach and an attacker moving laterally) has compressed to an average of just 29 minutes. In some cases, attacks were completed in just 27 seconds.
Threat Actors are using AI to automate the grunt work of cybercrime, and it’s working. AI-generated phishing now sees a 54% click-through rate, making it 4.5 times more effective than traditional methods.
How Hippo can help you:
- AI isn’t simply a tool for cyber-criminals to exploit, it’s also essential for strengthening cyber defence. As attackers increasingly automate their operations, many organisations are turning to AI to do the same, working defensively to keep pace with threats in real time. By integrating AI into automated workflows on top of existing defensive layers, organisations can respond faster and more effectively, making cyber protection smarter and more resilient.
- Whilst AI adoption can help strengthen security, use of unsanctioned ‘Shadow AI’ within a business can introduce a risk of data leak. We work with our clients to introduce new AI tools, make better use of the tools within their existing tech environment, classify sensitive data and align AI risk controls with emerging UK regulations.
2. The shift from perimeter security to managing identity
In 2026, the concept of a “secure perimeter” is a relic. Identity is now the primary attack surface. Palo Alto’s Unit 42 found that 90% of breaches involve identity weaknesses. Attackers aren’t “hacking” their way in; they are simply logging in using stolen credentials or excessive permissions.
How Hippo can help you:
- Most organisations are working with excessive permission creep. We help organisations rationalise user and non-human identities, mapping out attack paths to ensure the principle of least privilege is applied, not just policy.
- Implicit trust is a vulnerability. We help organisations combine least privilege with Just In Time (JIT) access, ensuring our team only has the keys they need for the exact duration of a task, supporting a clients’ need to protect its data and employees. The way identities are managed is the cornerstone of a robust security strategy.
3. Operationalising cloud and SaaS security
Cloud platforms are no longer secondary systems; they are the business and have been for some time now. They are also where the money disappears. The average cost of a data breach has now topped £4.7 million, and it takes an average of 197 days to even detect an intruder in distributed environments.
How Hippo can help you:
- Hippo integrates ‘secure by design’ into our entire engineering lifecycle. We don’t build a service and then check for security at the end. The need for security is recognised and built in from the start. We can reduce the time spent on threat modelling by using automated, human-verified processes aligned to the frameworks that fit client requirements..
- We help unify security operations. We map security controls back to critical business services so organisations can see threats in real-time across their entire hybrid estate.
4. The human side of AI-powered attacks
Credential theft incidents rose by 160% in 2025 because AI can now perfectly mimic the tone of a trusted colleague. If an email looks right and sounds right, the human’s instinctive firewall often fails to pick this up.
How Hippo can help you:
- We’ve helped our clients improve their AI awareness and harden their internal security processes. Whether it’s changing payroll details or approving high-value payments, we help our clients improve their knowledge and reduce their attack surface. We offer bespoke solutions, including cybersecurity awareness workshops / workshops with client teams that highlight room for further cyber growth and the integration of robust, human-verified multi-factor systems that are resistant to AI spoofing.We offer bespoke solutions, including cybersecurity awareness workshops / workshops with client teams that highlight room for further cyber growth and the integration of robust, human-verified multi-factor systems that are resistant to AI spoofing.
- We help clients implement Zero Trust workflows that are robust, secure and fraud-resistant.
5. Accountability starts at the top
Looking ahead to the introduction of the UK’s Cyber Security and Resilience Bill, ‘we didn’t know’ will no longer be a valid legal defence. Boards are now expected to report on continuous compliance and resilience planning, not just technical status.
How Hippo can help you:
- Our leadership treats cyber risk as enterprise risk. We work with clients to maintain evidence based compliance mechanisms, so that they can stay ahead of changing regulations and confidently make business decisions without delays, giving organisations the ability to adapt quickly to regulatory changes while minimising operational disruption.
- We bridge the gap between the server room and the boardroom. We work with client teams to build reporting frameworks that translate technical gaps into business risks, ensuring readiness for future shifts in regulation.
Resilience over perfection
In 2026, the real measure of success isn’t flawless systems, it’s cyber resilience. It’s about how quickly businesses can detect a breach, how effectively it’s contained, and how fast the service can get back online for users without disruption.
We’ve already seen cases where it’s better for a system to temporarily go offline than risk exposing sensitive data. This brings us back to the core CIA principles (confidentiality, integrity and availability) and the reality that every security decision involves trade offs. It requires strong collaboration, rigorous engineering practices and teams that check each other’s work to ensure delivery is both secure and reliable.
At Hippo, we combine evidence-based design with practical engineering to make security work not just for systems, but for the businesses and people who rely on them every day.
