Are We Ready for 2026? Top Cyber Predictions on Policy, Tech, and Threats

Cyber Focus kicks off 2026 (and its 100th new episode) with rapid-fire predictions from McCrary Institute senior fellows. They flag big policy inflection points—especially whether Congress can reauthorize "CISA 2015," sustain information-sharing protections, and keep state and local cybersecurity funding on track. Tech-wise, the group focuses on AI's accelerating integration, the "speed" divide between defenders and adversaries, and emerging pressures across connectivity and infrastructure. On threats, they warn about deepfake-driven social engineering, ransomware that's getting faster and more accessible, "typhoon" intrusions, and the compounding risk of encryption and security tech debt. Main Topics Covered CISA 2015 reauthorization, information sharing, and state/local cyber funding priorities. Cyber offense and deterrence: shaping adversary behavior by imposing real costs. AI everywhere: faster attacks, faster defense, and higher infrastructure stakes. Convergence and connectivity: data centers, wireless, subsea cables, satellite, and scale. Deepfake social engineering and shrinking ransomware dwell times in 2026. "Typhoon" intrusions, critical infrastructure exposure, and major-event targeting pressure. Key Quotes "What I believe is going to overtake identity just in general is deep fake social engineering. And that means the calls that look like your CEO that tell you to get on an urgent call right now... I think I'd click on that if I didn't know better. And a lot of us in the security realm would." — Cynthia Kaiser "We're actually getting the broader dividing line between haves and have nots... If you can't move fast, you're going to need to find someone who can... If you're someone that can't receive new information and immediately improve your defensive posture, you're probably a have not." — Matt Hayden "We're seeing and hearing that the US government is interested in taking the fight to the adversaries... shaping the adversary's behavior is important because it slows them down, it imposes costs on them, and perhaps it could lead to deterrence." — Christopher Roberti "I started with China and I'm going to end with China... making sure again, we don't take our eye off the ball that wow, there may be reasons to make deals economically with China. We have to treat them as a potential adversary." — Bob Kolasky "At the end of the day, I look at as the typhoon epidemic—Salt, Vault... What is the next typhoon we're going to uncover in 2026 that's going to be driving our cybersecurity defense measures?" — Bill Evanina Relevant Links and Resources https://mccraryinstitute.com/directory/senior-fellows/