The State of Identity Security 2026: Identity is the new perimeter

The State of Identity Security 2026 survey of 5,000 IT and security leaders across 17 countries finds identity-related breaches are pervasive—71% of organizations suffered at least one identity breach in the past year (average three attacks per victim)—with strong links to ransomware (67% of ransomware incidents tied to identity attacks), significant financial impact (average remediation cost $1.64M), and growing risk from mismanaged non-human identities (41% of breaches). The report highlights sector and country variance, limited NHI hygiene (only 34% regularly audit/rotate service accounts), and recommends multi-layered defenses such as universal MFA and Zero Trust.