At the NKST IAM Conference in Toronto today, the Canadian Cybersecurity Network released its State of Cybersecurity in Canada 2026 report, signalling a fundamental shift in how cyber risk must be understood nationwide. The report finds that cybersecurity can no longer be viewed solely as a technical issue. It has become a core economic and national stability imperative, with digital trust now underpinning financial systems, public services, and the country’s competitiveness.
The 2026 State of Cybersecurity Report shows Canada facing rising digital risk as AI automation and interconnected systems reshape how attacks occur and how trust breaks down. Cybersecurity is no longer an IT issue. It is a leadership resilience and economic competitiveness challenge that will define how Canada protects critical systems recovers from disruption and maintains confidence in the digital age.
The 2026 findings show that Canada remains resilient, supported by strong talent, world-class research institutions, and a growing cybersecurity ecosystem. However, the report also highlights uneven maturity across the economy, particularly among small and mid-sized organizations, operational technology environments, identity verification practices, and crisis readiness. With attacks increasingly targeting trust, identity, and human decision-making rather than infrastructure alone, these gaps now represent systemic risk.
A central theme of the report is the erosion of traditional trust signals. Deepfakes, voice cloning, and AI driven social engineering now enable attackers to convincingly impersonate executives, employees, and institutions. As identity becomes the most targeted attack surface, purely technical defenses are no longer adequate. Verification must increasingly occur at the moment of action, not after harm has already occurred.
The report also shows that cyber incidents have shifted from isolated security events to full-scale business crises. Regulatory scrutiny, media exposure, and financial fallout now unfold alongside technical response efforts. Yet many organizations remain unprepared to operate under this pressure, even when formal response plans exist on paper.
Another key finding is the growing convergence of cybersecurity, insurance, and governance. Cyber insurers are emerging as active participants in prevention, shaping baseline security expectations and elevating board-level accountability. This dynamic is raising national cyber hygiene standards while exposing maturity gaps that can no longer be ignored.
Looking ahead, the report identifies agentic artificial intelligence and post quantum cryptography as defining forces in the next phase of Canada’s cyber posture. Autonomous systems are accelerating both offensive and defensive activity, compressing decision timelines beyond human response. At the same time, data harvested today may be decrypted in the future if quantum readiness lags.
The cover image of the report reflects this moment. A forward-facing Canadian moose stands alert and resolute, symbolizing a nation that is grounded, strong, and prepared to defend its systems, economy, and public trust in an increasingly contested digital environment.
Alongside the national report, the Canadian Cybersecurity Network is launching CCN Insights, a new intelligence series focused on emerging risks shaping digital trust. The first release, When AI Acts: Securing Autonomous Systems at Machine Speed, examines how autonomous AI, deepfakes, and synthetic identity are redefining enterprise risk. It is being unveiled this week at the IAM Conference.
State of Cybersecurity in Canada 2026 is designed to provide boards, executives, policymakers, and security leaders with a clear assessment of where Canada stands today, and the priority actions required to strengthen national resilience in the years ahead. Get the report here.
Team Cymru’s Voice of the Cybersecurity Strategist Report Is Out
Posted in Commentary with tags Team Cymru on January 29, 2026 by itnerdTeam Cymru, the trusted intelligence partner to the world’s most targeted organizations, today released its Voice of Cybersecurity Strategist Report, exposing a critical disconnect between security ambition and real-world execution. Despite increased investment, many organizations still operate with limited visibility of critical external attack surfaces and active threat infrastructure, leaving blind spots where risk actually materializes. The results reveal meaningful gaps between perceived readiness and operational capability, particularly around external visibility, threat intelligence, and AI-driven security priorities.
Key findings include:
The report underscores a growing “confidence versus capability” gap across modern security infrastructures protecting critical infrastructure, government agencies, and civilian-reliant business operations.. While most respondents believe they have “good” visibility into threats beyond their perimeter, only 38% say that visibility is comprehensive and real-time. That shortfall matters more as attacks accelerate and adversaries expand beyond traditional boundaries.
At the same time, AI is reshaping both sides of the fight. AI-enabled threats ranked as the top emerging concern among respondents (22%), narrowly outpacing ransomware (20%). In response, organizations are prioritizing AI in their security strategy, with 52% naming the ability to leverage AI as their top criterion when evaluating threat intelligence investments, and 61% ranking AI-enhanced threat detection and response as the most critical capability for an effective security program. Yet the report also suggests many programs are still constrained by foundational data and integration issues, with 45% citing insufficient real-time threat intelligence as their biggest gap, and 42% pointing to challenges integrating external threat data with internal tools.
Investment and operating models are shifting toward external, technology-driven defense. 92% of respondents allocate at least 20% of their threat intelligence budget to external threat intelligence and monitoring, including 32% who allocate more than 40%. When it comes to resourcing, 44% report a mostly technology-focused approach to balancing tools and people, signaling a push toward automation, orchestration, and integrated workflows to increase team efficiency.
Measuring value is increasingly tied to proactive outcomes. The primary metric respondents use to assess external threat intelligence effectiveness is spotting threats before they affect the organization (27%), followed closely by faster threat detection (26%). When communicating to boards and executive leadership, respondents most often cite the number of incidents prevented or detected (50%) and mean time to detect and respond (50%), reflecting a focus on tangible outcomes and operational speed.
The report also highlights why progress can stall. The biggest challenge to funding threat intelligence initiatives is a focus on compliance requirements over threat-driven investments (26%), followed by competing priorities within the security program (23%) and limited executive understanding of external threats (22%). Looking ahead, the top planned strategic shift over the next 12 to 24 months is increasing the efficiency of the existing security team (45%), alongside aligning with increasing regulatory compliance (40%) and consolidating threat intelligence suppliers (39%).
Methodology
Team Cymru surveyed 121 information security, cybersecurity, and risk management leaders responsible for setting cybersecurity strategy, approving security technology investments, and managing security budgets and resources. The survey was conducted online via Pollfish using organic sampling beginning April 17, 2025 capturing perspectives across multiple industries.
To download the full Voice of the Cybersecurity Strategist report, visit here.
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