The cyber threat landscape has undergone a significant transformation in the first quarter of 2026. Although the number of active ransomware groups has decreased, those that have remained on the market have achieved unprecedented precision and effectiveness.
The data collected by Check Point Software analysts paints a picture of a sector that has opted for professionalisation instead of massification. In the first three months of the year, more than two thousand organisations fell victim to attacks. Statistically, this means that around 700 entities lose control of their data every month. Although, at first glance, these figures seem similar to last year’s, experts warn against drawing hasty conclusions. Today’s scale of attacks is the result of systematic actions rather than single, mass campaigns, which demonstrates the greater stability and power of the current hacking groups.
Artificial intelligence has become a key game changer. Sergey Shykevich of Check Point points out that AI is drastically shortening the so-called attack lifecycle. What used to take days or weeks – from gaining initial access to fully encrypting servers – now happens almost in real time. Thanks to automation, existing security vulnerabilities become a critical threat faster than IT departments can react.
“Artificial intelligence is beginning to shorten the lifecycle of an attack – from gaining access to exploitation – making existing exposure points more threatening than ever,” warns Sergey Shykevich.
We are also seeing increasing consolidation in the cybercrime market. Today, the four largest ransomware gangs account for nearly 40 per cent of all successful intrusions. This concentration of resources and capital allows attackers to target the most profitable industries, such as manufacturing, business services, healthcare and industrial sectors where downtime is most costly.
T raditional protection of end devices is no longer sufficient. A modern defence strategy must shift its focus to the network and cloud access levels. Experts are increasingly promoting an architecture designed to protect distributed IT environments, based on Zero Trust controls and active Exposure Management. Rather than waiting for an intrusion, organisations need to continually identify their own vulnerabilities and assets, blocking threats before they can even penetrate the internal infrastructure.
