Cybersecurity is entering a new phase.

Geopolitical instability, increasingly interconnected infrastructures and the rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence are changing not only the scale of cyber threats, but also the speed at which attacks can evolve.

The Report: Armis State of Cyberwarfare 2026 describes an environment in which the traditional boundaries between cybercrime, cyberwarfare and real-world disruption are becoming increasingly blurred.

According to the report:

• 78% of IT decision-makers believe geopolitical tensions have increased the threat of cyberwarfare
• 79% consider AI-powered attacks a significant threat to their organization

AI Is Accelerating the Threat Landscape

Artificial Intelligence is becoming a powerful tool on BOTH sides of cybersecurity.

Organizations are increasingly looking at AI to improve their defensive capabilities, but adversaries can use the same technological evolution to accelerate discovery, exploitation and lateral movement.

The report highlights the growing importance of agentic AI, with autonomous, goal-oriented agents potentially capable of discovering vulnerabilities, developing exploits and moving across networks with limited or no human intervention.

This evolution challenges one of the fundamental assumptions of traditional cybersecurity: that defenders have enough time to identify, analyze and respond to malicious activity.

When attacks operate at machine speed, security must evolve accordingly.

The Cybersecurity Readiness Paradox

One of the most interesting findings of the report is the gap between perceived preparedness and demonstrated resilience:

• Nearly 79% of organizations say they are prepared to handle a cyberwarfare attack
• 76% believe they are ready to mitigate an AI-driven cyber threat.

However……

• 54% report having been impacted by an AI-generated or AI-led attack during the previous 12 months, while half admit they have been unable to adequately secure their ecosystems following an attack.

This highlights an important point: cybersecurity readiness can no longer be measured only through policies, compliance or confidence.

Organizations need to understand whether their security controls can actually withstand modern attacks under real-world conditions.

From Reactive Security to Proactive Resilience

The speed of modern cyber threats makes a purely reactive security model increasingly difficult to sustain.

According to the report:

• 43% of organizations still detect and respond to a significant cyberattack reactively, either while the attack is occurring or only after damage has already been done.

A more resilient approach requires organizations to continuously understand:

• What assets are connected to their environments;
• Where vulnerabilities and exposures exist;
• Which risks should be prioritized first;
• How the attack surface changes over time;
• Whether existing security controls are actually effective.

The objective is no longer simply to respond faster. Organizations need the visibility and context required to anticipate potential attack paths and reduce exposure before it can be exploited.

Cyber Resilience Requires Continuous Visibility

The modern attack surface extends far beyond traditional endpoints.

Cloud environments, IT infrastructure, operational technology, IoT devices, third-party systems and AI-enabled services are creating increasingly complex digital ecosystems.

YOU CANNOT PROTECT WHAT YOU CANNOT SEE

Continuous visibility, exposure management and risk prioritization therefore become essential components of a modern cybersecurity strategy

Instead of treating vulnerabilities as isolated technical findings, organizations need to understand them within the context of their assets, business criticality and potential attack paths.

The goal is to move from simply identifying vulnerabilities to understanding which exposures represent the greatest risk to the organization.

Preparing for a Machine-Speed Security Environment

The evolution described in the report suggests that cybersecurity strategies will increasingly need to operate at the same speed as the threats they are designed to counter.

Technology alone, however, is not enough.

Organizations need to combine visibility, intelligence, continuous validation, automation and operational expertise to build a security posture capable of adapting as new threats emerge.

Cyber resilience in the age of AI is therefore not a destination. It is a continuous process of discovering, understanding, prioritizing and reducing risk.

As cyberwarfare becomes increasingly connected to geopolitical tensions and AI accelerates both attack and defense capabilities, organizations that move from reactive protection toward proactive exposure management and continuous resilience will be better positioned to face the next generation of cyber threats.