Welcome to the 2026 Guide to Cybersecurity, your comprehensive, curated source for educational explainers, hands-on tutorials, podcast episodes and other resources on cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity refers to any technologies, practices and policies for preventing cyberattacks or diminishing their impact. The field encompasses a wide range of functions, from basic password protections and security hygiene to sophisticated offensive tests and AI-powered tools.
The ultimate goal of cybersecurity is to protect computer systems, applications, devices, data, financial assets and people against malicious actors and the ever-evolving tactics and technologies they employ.
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Review key topics in cybersecurity as well as the latest trends and challenges, today’s most common threats, some lingering myths and some fundamental best practices.
Cyberattacks—including phishing, malware and insider threats—are efforts to disable systems, compromise data or steal money or assets through unauthorized access to digital systems. By one estimate, cyberattacks will cost the world economy USD 10.5 trillion per year by 2025.
The goal of data security is to protect digital information everywhere—on cloud platforms, on-premises systems, mobile devices and third-party applications—against corruption, theft or unauthorized access, while still enabling its efficient and effective use.
IAM focuses on provisioning and protecting digital identities and user access permissions in an IT system. IAM tools and best practices aim to ensure that only the right people can access the right resources, for the right reasons, at the right time.
Whether an organization operates in a public, private or hybrid cloud environment, cloud security solutions and best practices are critical for addressing internal and external threats to business security, and a necessity for maintaining business continuity.
As a network’s critical first line of cybersecurity defense, endpoint security protects end users and endpoint devices, including desktop and laptop computers, mobile devices and servers.
Infrastructure security is broader in scope, safeguarding all essential IT systems and equipment—everything from computers and devices to network systems, data center equipment, operational technology (OT) and cloud resources—against physical attacks and cyberthreats.
Vulnerability management is the continuous discovery and correction of security flaws and weaknesses, such as misconfigurations or unpatched bugs, that threat actors can exploit to gain unauthorized access to systems or launch cyberattacks.
In offensive security, cybersecurity professionals use the same tools and techniques as threat actors to test a company’s security defenses and expose vulnerabilities so they can be addressed before they are weaponized.
Artificial intelligence (AI) security is the process of using AI to enhance an organization's security posture. With AI systems, organizations can automate threat detection, prevention and remediation to better combat cyberattacks and data breaches.
Threat detection and response (TDR) applies advanced detection methods, automated response capabilities and integrated security solutions to enable real-time cyberthreat detection and mitigation.
Threat management combines detailed information about cyberthreats and threat actors with AI and automation to help security teams prevent cybersecurity “blind spots,” and improve overall threat detection, prevention, response and recovery.
Managed security includes security services provided by third-party organizations, up to and including a fully outsourced security operations center (SOC). Managed security allows businesses to benefit from expert, state-of-the-art cybersecurity protection without building their own large security teams and infrastructure.