By Biren Patel, Senior Manager, Cyber Defense Center
As the seasons change and the new year approaches, questions arise about what the next year may hold. 2025 revealed persistent threats that haunt networks and exploit overlooked vulnerabilities. In my experience, the scariest threats aren’t exotic zero-day exploits—they’re the everyday oversights that attackers turn into catastrophes. Before the new year is here, let’s take a step back and assess real-world incidents from 2025; understanding this year’s common issues can help us avoid repeating them in 2026.
Fight the Shadow IT Epidemic
The first nightmare is shadow IT, the hidden devices and unapproved tools lurking in the shadows of enterprise networks. These “ghost assets” can include forgotten 15-year-old servers, rogue IoT devices, or unauthorized SaaS applications that evade inventory lists. Often, only one person knows about them, allowing them to slip through security controls entirely. In many cases, these become the entry point for ransomware, with attackers discovering and exploiting them before defenders even realize they exist. So far this year, we’ve seen a resurgence in basic vectors like USB malware, with a 27% increase in infections from personal drives bypassing network defenses.
In 2026, organizations must prioritize comprehensive asset inventories, including IoT and vendor-managed systems. Tools like network access control (NAC) can help, but success depends on cultural shifts: rigorous change management and regular audits to illuminate any blind spots.
Beware Phishing and Credential Theft
Phishing and credential theft remain one of the longest lasting threats, potentially haunting organizations for years and evolving faster than many defenses can keep up. Attackers use sophisticated attacker-in-the-middle (AiTM) techniques to steal logins, often bypassing multi-factor authentication (MFA) through fatigue attacks or token replay. Once inside, they pivot via VPNs or cloud portals to deploy payloads. This year, we’ve observed a 40% surge in weaponized SVG files in phishing campaigns, exploiting browsers’ rendering capabilities while slipping past email gateways that view them as harmless images. Over 70% of bypassed attachments were non-traditional formats like SVG or IMG, highlighting how adversaries weaponize user trust.
Smishing (mobile phishing) adds another layer, especially in remote work environments, where fake alerts can trick users into revealing codes. While phishing won’t vanish anytime soon, organizations are making strides with conditional access policies, geolocation restrictions, and shifts from push notifications to authenticator apps. Proactive monitoring and user education must remain a priority in 2026 to help reduce its impact.
Prioritize Patching
Failure to regularly patch solutions is a common issue that can have devastating consequences. Publicly accessible systems like VPNs and firewalls are prime targets, yet organizations delay patches due to expertise gaps or operational fears. One stark example: after applying a patch to a NetScaler appliance, a team skipped the critical step of terminating active sessions, allowing attackers to maintain access post-fix. This negligence turns preventable issues into full-blown breaches. Globally, the ransomware epidemic underscores this, with over 4,000 claimed attacks in the first half of 2025 across 109 countries. Gangs like CLOP and AKIRA average more than two victims daily, proving that layered defenses are essential.
To combat this in the new year, enterprises need structured patching lifecycles: thorough reviews of vendor advisories, automated testing, and validation to ensure every step is executed. Skipping basics invites malicious cyber actors in through the front door.
Prevent Data Leaks
Data leaks are certainly in the nightmares of many security professionals. Even after remediating an incident by removing malware and rebuilding systems, the exfiltrated information lingers in attackers’ hands. This leads to reputational damage, regulatory fines, and follow-on attacks, as stolen data fuels further targeting. Audits and compliance issues compound the pain, injuring organizations long term. In sectors like healthcare and manufacturing, this is amplified by heavy IoT reliance – think infusion pumps or patient monitors in hospitals, or proprietary sensors in factories. These industries top the target list due to legacy systems and unpatchable devices, making them high-reward for threat actors.
Usher in the New Year Securely
While the above three examples are among the scariest of 2025, they are by no means the only things security professionals need to be wary of as we ring in the new year. For example, attackers targeting Zero Trust Network Access (ZTNA) solutions may be looming around the corner. As enterprises shift from traditional VPNs to ZTNA for secure cloud and private access, adversaries are probing these tools. Two decades ago, VPN bypasses seemed impossible; now, they’re routine. ZTNA breaches haven’t hit en masse yet, but patterns suggest they’re coming. I wouldn’t be surprised to see increased focus here in 2026, alongside persistent phishing evolutions and IoT exploits. The issues of 2025 aren’t inevitable as we usher in 2026. They thrive on complacency and can be defeated with a strong commitment to doing the little things well—full visibility into your network, executed processes, and a broader organizational commitment. As we leave 2025 behind, security leaders must pay careful attention to the everyday oversights to prevent costly incidents.
