The State of Cybersecurity 2026: Risks, Realities, and Readiness

Cybersecurity in 2026 will continue to get more complex than ever. AI is driving smarter attacks, and smarter defenses. Stolen credentials, MFA bypasses, and data leakage are now becoming key threats, while ransomware continues to hit data, operations, and supply chains. Cyber-attacks are increasingly targeting private organizations and critical infrastructure. Human error and insider threats remain major risks, amplified by AI-driven social engineering.

Heavy reliance on third-party vendors and cloud providers adds systemic risk that organizations can’t fully control. Continuous emerging technologies and their respective connectedness are creating new attack surfaces. Regulatory demands and a growing skills gap make defending against these threats even harder. Staying ahead means making identity security, ransomware protection, third-party risk management, and overall cyber risk governance strategic priorities.

February 26, 2026

11:30 am - 12:30 pm (CST)

Virtual (Zoom)

Roundtable Speaker

Ben Hall

Practice Manager - Governance, Risk & Compliance
Heartland Business Systems (HBS)

Ben is a Certified Information Systems Auditor (CISA) and a Certified Data Privacy Solutions Engineer (CDPSE) with 17 years of Governance, Risk, Compliance, Information Security and Information Technology experience in the Banking, Financial, Insurance and Healthcare sectors. Additionally, he has experience in IT governance, risk and compliance across numerous regulatory frameworks, and has worked in IT operations, giving him a holistic view of how security impacts IT operations. As a GRC Practice Manager for HBS, he works with clients to support their information security, risk management, and compliance efforts.