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News brief: Future of security holds bigger budgets, new threats

Check out the latest security news from the Informa TechTarget team.

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Published: 12 Dec 2025

As the world barrels toward a new year, executives and lawmakers alike are, by turn, optimistic about the future of cybersecurity -- and deeply apprehensive.

In the SOC, for example, agentic AI promises to improve efficiency and effectiveness, enabling better cybersecurity outcomes and easing the pressure on chronically understaffed and overworked SecOps teams. On the other hand, AI threatens to make threat actors more efficient and effective too, enabling them to launch autonomous attacks at speed and scale.

This week's featured articles look toward 2026 and beyond, and they reflect a mixed forecast. Many CISOs will be glad to hear that cybersecurity budgets are expected to rise globally, indicating a growing recognition that cyber-risk puts the business at risk. In more troubling news, a bipartisan group of U.S. lawmakers warns the federal government is underprepared for an anticipated rise in AI-enabled attacks. Plus, experts predict humanoid robots will walk among us sooner than many expect, bringing with them alarming cybersecurity vulnerabilities.

Cybersecurity spending will increase significantly in 2026

Two-thirds of organizations globally plan to increase their investments in cyber-risk prevention in 2026, according to a Marsh survey of 2,200 cybersecurity leaders. At least one in four intends to boost spending by more than 25%.

Key cybersecurity spending priorities include security technology, incident response and hiring. U.K. firms are most likely to increase spending, driven by recent, high-profile cyberattacks on British retailers and automaker Jaguar Land Rover.

The report also highlighted the prevalence of third-party security incidents, with 70% of organizations experiencing at least one in the past year. Experts emphasized the importance of vetting and frequently auditing vendor cybersecurity, negotiating contractual protections and actively managing vendor access to IT systems.

Read the full story by David Jones on Cybersecurity Dive.

Senators demand White House action on AI-driven cybersecurity threats

U.S. Sens. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) and Joni Ernst (R-Iowa) have raised concerns about the growing threat of AI-driven cyberattacks, urging National Cyber Director Sean Cairncross to address the issue.

Their bipartisan letter follows a large-scale cyberattack by Chinese government-linked hackers who exploited Anthropic's Claude platform, marking a significant case of AI-enabled hacking with minimal human intervention.

The senators questioned the White House's response and its communication with Anthropic, as well as plans to collaborate with AI companies to mitigate such risks. While Congress has increasingly raised concerns about AI's potential harms, the White House's AI strategy has largely focused on benefits, with limited emphasis on cybersecurity measures.

Read the full story by Eric Geller on Cybersecurity Dive.

Humanoid robots are here, and they are highly hackable

Experts at Bank of America and Morgan Stanley predicted that as humanoid robots become cheaper to produce and more proficient in manual labor, their prevalence will grow dramatically in the coming decades. And security analysts warn that these robots -- while becoming more affordable and functional -- are still easier to hack than many home computers.

Already, common malware, such as remote access Trojans, has been used to exploit these systems. Industry experts have emphasized that the robotics industry lacks basic cybersecurity awareness and standards, with speed prioritized over security. Efforts like the Secure Robot Operating System aim to address these vulnerabilities, but the robotics cybersecurity field remains immature.

Read the full story by Nate Nelson on Dark Reading.

Editor's note: An editor used AI tools to aid in the generation of this news brief. Our expert editors always review and edit content before publishing.

Alissa Irei is senior site editor of Informa TechTarget Security.

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