Global Incident Response Report 2026

Global Incident Response Report 2026

Cyberattacks are evolving quickly as AI, identity weaknesses, and supply chain exposure reshape intrusion entry points and tactics. The Palo Alto Networks Global Incident Response Report highlights major threat trends observed across hundreds of incidents, areas of escalating risk, and the impact of visibility and governance on response times. To download your complimentary copy of the report, complete this short form.

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Frequently Asked Questions

How are cyberattacks changing in speed and scale?

Why is identity now the primary attack path?

The report makes it clear that **identity has become the main way attackers get in and move around**, especially as organizations rely more on cloud and SaaS and less on traditional network perimeters. Key data points from Unit 42: - In nearly **90% of investigations**, identity weaknesses played a **material role** in the incident. - **65% of initial access** is now **identity-driven** (for example, stolen credentials, hijacked sessions, or mis-scoped privileges). - **99% of cloud identities analyzed** had **more privileges than they actually used**, creating unnecessary exposure. Why identity is so attractive to attackers: - Instead of exploiting software flaws, attackers often **just log in** using: - Stolen or phished credentials - Hijacked sessions - Over-privileged accounts - Once they have valid access, they can: - **Blend into normal user or service activity** - **Move faster** with fewer obvious signals - **Expand reach** using excessive permissions The identity attack surface is expanding: - **Machine accounts, service roles, third-party integrations, and AI-related identities** now often outnumber human users. - These non-human identities tend to be: - Over-permissioned - Long-lived - Inconsistently monitored - As identity estates fragment across multiple platforms, **defenders lose end-to-end visibility**, while attackers gain reliable paths for persistence and lateral movement. What we should focus on: - **Treat identity as the primary control plane**, not just an IT admin concern. - Establish **centralized visibility and continuous lifecycle governance** for: - Human users - Machine and service accounts - Third-party and SaaS integrations - Emerging AI-related identities - Systematically **right-size permissions** and reduce excessive trust before attackers can turn access into impact. In practice, this means reimagining identity as a core security domain: if we get identity wrong, even strong network and endpoint controls will struggle to contain modern attacks.

What practical steps should we prioritize to reduce cyber risk?

The report emphasizes that in **more than 90% of incidents**, attacker success was driven less by novel techniques and more by **preventable gaps**: limited visibility, inconsistent controls, and excessive trust in identities and integrations. It recommends three executive-level priorities: 1. **Align security operations to attacker speed** - Move from fragmented tools and manual workflows to **integrated detection and automated containment**. - Correlate activity across **identity, endpoint, cloud, SaaS, and network** rather than treating them as separate silos. - Aim to shrink the time from detection to containment so that fast attacks (sometimes under 72 minutes) can be contained before they escalate. 2. **Treat identity as the primary control plane** - Assume that **identity is the main path in**: 65% of initial access is identity-driven, and identity weaknesses played a role in nearly 90% of cases. - Implement **centralized visibility and continuous governance** for: - Human users - Machine and service accounts - Third-party and SaaS integrations - AI-related identities - Systematically reduce **excessive permissions**, especially in cloud, where 99% of identities reviewed had more privileges than they used. 3. **Actively govern exposure and dependencies** - Look beyond code vulnerabilities to **what is connected, what is trusted, and what is exploitable** across: - SaaS integrations (OAuth apps, APIs, automation workflows) - Vendor tools (remote monitoring, device management, etc.) - Open-source and transitive dependencies in the software supply chain - Recognize that supply chain and vendor tools can create **one-to-many impact** and that 39% of observed command-and-control techniques leveraged remote access tools. These priorities are less about buying more point solutions and more about **tightening integration, automation, and governance** across the environments attackers already know how to exploit. By focusing on speed, identity, and connected dependencies, we can materially reduce both the likelihood and the impact of modern attacks.

Global Incident Response Report 2026 published by ACME Internet Services LLC

Growing into unique B2Bs need 4 Business Technology Cyber Security CSP for SMB's SME's Mid-Market to Enterprises for Manufacturing, IoT, IIoT, OT, Wi-Fi, Healthcare, EMR E Prescribing, Real Estate, Music, Venue, Hospitality and Entertainment, Agriculture, Farming, Managed Services, Defense, Physical Security (Layer 1), E-Rate, Professional Services, Airlines, Education K-12, Industrials, Shipping and Receiving, Transportation, Logistics, Distribution, Railway, Satellite, Quick Server Restaurants, Delivery Services, Payment Card Industry, Web Hosting, Networking, Industrial Automation, Home Automation, Commercial Electronics, Consumer Electronics, Vendor Management, Auditing, Finance and Accounting working with all size organizations including Multinational's and Big 5's

For 503c's we have and do work with ones with a cause we believe in along have always been flexible to startup's and company's not quite at the early growth phase yet assisting from both the Management Consulting and Business Technology in familiar Industries and for M&A to ensure proper Foundations to build on while navigating through the Galaxy of Technology that most would agree is here to stay today.

Though not yet understanding some of the cycles like Work From Home going back to Y2k and others where pitfalls and other gotcha's are often already implemented by the end user, before the truth becomes clear again to the masses.

We strive to mitigate bad design and implementation which generally become major pain points growing in lost operations and revenue, let alone the biggest ones if you look past the paid SEO on poor LOB software purchases and forced migrations leading to overrun project budgets and timelines and may have experienced them yourself.

Especially lately logging into sites, mixed data, lost accounts/usernames needing resetting, increased spam etc. Just like rebooting/reloading as a fix, but usually is just skipping root cause analysis as many know the webs foundation is flawed!

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How are cyberattacks changing in speed and scale?

Why is identity now the primary attack path?

What practical steps should we prioritize to reduce cyber risk?