2025 Penetration Testing Findings & 2026 Strategies

Organizations struggle with security gaps despite growing cybersecurity investments. Data from hundreds of penetration tests shows attackers exploit credential weaknesses, identity misconfigurations, and insecure default settings over sophisticated exploits.

This report analyzes findings from 250+ penetration tests across 150+ organizations, giving security leaders a data-driven view of recurring defense failures and remediation priorities. Key insights:

• Misconfigurations make up 58% of vulnerabilities
• Active Directory and NTLM relay attacks dominate privilege escalation
• AI is weaponized for credential theft and social engineering

Explore strategies in the full report.