Episode 174: 2026 Cybersecurity Predictions from CIS — Pt 2
In episode 174 of Cybersecurity Where You Are, Sean Atkinson and Tony Sager sit down with Kyle Leonard, Cyber Threat Intelligence Analyst at the Center for Internet Security® (CIS®), and Randy Rose, VP of Security Operations & Intelligence at CIS. Together, they continue their discussion of 2026 cybersecurity predictions from seven CIS experts, as shared on the CIS website.
Here are some highlights from our episode:
- 02:00. How cross-platform campaigns are becoming the norm
- 03:09. Threat actors' use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) to expand their attacks and gain efficiencies
- 05:08. The blurring line of what separates today's script kiddies from nation-state threat actors
- 07:47. Fully autonomous malware: in the realm of possibility but not here yet
- 13:19. How specialization in the criminal ecosystem requires us to rethink analysis itself
- 16:07. Shrinking dwell time: a product of the democratization of complex tools' availability
- 18:02. The effective use of social engineering to lower threat actors' operational costs
- 19:20. Malware's increasing use of trusted infrastructure to thwart cyber defenses
- 20:25. The use of behavioral analysis to apply bottleneck security mechanisms
- 22:40. Evolving threat actors' tradecraft: pseudo-random subdomains, GenAI models, and SEO poisoning
- 26:39. What trust looks like today: something that's dynamic and negotiated at a moment's notice
- 31:25. Supply chain attackers' pivot to edge device vendors and security appliance makers
- 33:43. The ongoing work of CIS to support state and local governments' cybersecurity efforts
Resources
- Episode 169: 2026 Cybersecurity Predictions from CIS — Pt 1
- The Evolving Role of Generative Artificial Intelligence in the Cyber Threat Landscape
- Surge of QakBot Activity Using Malspam, Malicious XLSB Files
- Active Lumma Stealer Campaign Impacting U.S. SLTTs
- Episode 173: Scammer Jousting as Human Risk Management
- ClickFix: An Adaptive Social Engineering Technique
- Impact of Federal Funding Cuts to the Value of MS-ISAC CTI
- Episode 157: How a Modern, Mission-Driven CIRT Operates
If you have some feedback or an idea for an upcoming episode of Cybersecurity Where You Are, let us know by emailing [email protected].
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