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The 10 Security Decisions That Matter Most in 2026

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Takeaways from the Digital Defense Report

Every year, the Microsoft Digital Defense Report synthesizes signals, research, and frontline experience from across Microsoft’s global security ecosystem. Like years past, Microsoft Threat Intelligence identifies several themes that security teams should make themselves aware of, and more importantly, our recommendations on how to best address them.

We also sit down with Chloé Messdaghi, one of the architects behind the report, who explains not just what defenders are up against, but how leaders should respond. Below, we break down each recommendation and what it means in practice for security leaders navigating 2025.

To gain more insights into the threat landscape, read the full Digital Defense Report or the CISO executive summary.

  • An organizations cybersecurity posture is not just an IT problem, it’s a business risk with financial, operational, and reputational consequences. This means alignment starts and ends in the boardroom, and visibility is the key deliverable.

    Security teams should track and report metrics like MFA coverage, patch latency, incident response time, and exposure trends in business terms. If the board isn’t treating cyber risk at the same level as legal or financial risk, the organization is already behind.
  • In most cases attackers are no longer breaking in, they’re logging in. Identity remains the most consistent and exploited entry point across cloud and hybrid environments.

    This means phishing-resistant MFA isn’t optional. Apply it everywhere, especially for privileged accounts. Legacy authentication paths should be treated as liabilities, not exceptions. Every identity you don’t protect becomes an attacker’s persistence mechanism.
  • Security tooling without skilled operators creates a false sense of safety. Technology doesn’t compensate for untrained teams or unclear ownership.

    Security leaders should continuously invest in upskilling their team. Make security part of performance conversations, not just an annual training module. And, developing a security-growth mindset shouldn’t be limited to just your core security team. Culture and readiness determine resilience more than any single platform decision.
  • A significant percentage of breaches still start with exposed assets, unpatched services, or trusted third parties. Security leaders should inventory your true attack surface, which includes vendors, MSPs, APIs, and cloud-hosted services. Patch aggressively and audit partner access continuously.
  • Incidents may be inevitable, but surprise shouldn’t be.

    Security leaders should map exposures to business risk. As part of this, governance of policies shouldn’t be left to chance, which means key stakeholders across the company should practice incident response for specific scenarios, especially ransomware. Test how quickly you can revoke credentials, isolate systems, and communicate clearly.

    An untested IR plan is just a document.
  • Cloud identity abuse and misconfigurations are now primary targets for threat actors, not edge cases. To solve for this, security, IT, and GRC teams should inventory every workload, API, and identity. Enforce app governance, conditional access, and continuous token monitoring.

    You can’t defend what you don’t know exists.
  • Resilience isn’t just a buzzword; in practice it is the ability to absorb impact and recover without chaos. One way to achieve defense in depth is by testing backups, isolate them, and rehearse clean rebuilds for identity systems and cloud environments.
  • No single organization sees the full threat picture, and contributing to a collective defense raises the cost for threat actors. Security teams should engage with trusted peers, industry groups, and government partners. Isolation helps attackers, not defenders.
  • Cyber regulations are accelerating globally, with tighter reporting timelines and stronger accountability. It’s important to track emerging frameworks like the EU Cyber Resilience Act, NIS2, DORA, UK CTP and critical infrastructure mandates. If there is a possibility that these or other incoming regulations could apply to your business, you should align controls early rather than waiting for deadlines.

    Compliance scrambles become more expensive than integrating it into existing workflows.
  • While threat actor use of AI is predominantly observed before or outside of the traditional cyber kill chain, users are already engaging with AI technologies across many workflows. It’s essential to understand where AI is used in your environment, what data it accesses, and how it’s governed to manage both security and compliance risks effectively.

    For quantum, teams should inventory encryption usage and plan for post-quantum cryptography transitions.
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