The Future of Digital Defense in 2026

Local networks are appealing targets since they are seen as less defended, filled with rich information, and critical to the fabric of our society. 2026 could see a dangerous convergence of increasing attack focus and decreasing protective capability, with the MS-ISAC being one of the few organizations positioned to assist reduce the risk at scale.

Xrumer

While the current open LLMs are not appropriate RAGs, there is most likely to be a shift in 2026 toward RAG models. These designs combine qualified data with external sources to produce more prompt and relevant actions than a model could generate on its own. From a hazard perspective, this might present new risks in the kind of model poisoning, delicate data leak, and direct exposure of proprietary data if not executed thoroughly and if those external knowledge sources are not thoroughly managed.

Xrumer

2026 is an election year, implying that.