Generative AI and cybersecurity: What Sophos experts expect in 2026

Executive summary: This Sophos predictions article outlines how AI will reshape cybersecurity in 2026, warning that AI will amplify threat actor scale and sophistication, create new attack surfaces via internet-facing AI applications and prompt-injection risks, introduce a new class of insider risk when LLMs are fed corporate data, and complicate trust and accountability in Managed Detection and Response services. The piece emphasizes practical, augmentation-focused uses of AI for defenders while urging careful risk assessment and channel partners’ role in guiding customers through AI-security trade-offs.