14.05.2026
When ‘Who Touched The Data’ Is No Longer A Person
Ask any security leader what the most fundamental question in data protection is, and the answer is always the same: Who touched the data?
Ask any security leader what the most fundamental question in data protection is, and the answer is always the same: Who touched the data?
In 2026, the primary risk question is no longer just “who” has access to your systems. It’s “what” has access. While boards spent the past decade securing human identities, implementing multifactor authentication, conducting phishing simulations and debating zero-trust, organizations invited an invisible workforce through the back door: autonomous AI agents.
Boards usually ask about security after something goes wrong. I’ve sat through enough of these conversations to recognize the pattern. They ask what failed, which control didn’t work or how an attacker got in. Those are fair questions, but they often come too late.
As part of CRN’s coverage looking ahead to 2026, we’re highlighting 10 cybersecurity startups —at the Series C funding level or earlier—that have been on our radar for delivering novel approaches to protecting businesses and engaging with channel partners. Our list of cybersecurity startups to watch in 2026 includes early-stage companies providing identity security, exposure management and […]
The past year was dominated by one theme: scale. Scale in data, in AI adoption, in the speed of attacks, and in the number of systems security teams must protect without additional resources. In 2025, organizations tried to understand how deeply AI systems touch their environments, how much of their data is unnecessarily exposed, and […]
Even in an area of cybersecurity as essential as data protection, the stakes continue to climb higher in 2025. The pressures have mounted both from the intensification of data theft and extortion attacks as well as from the surging adoption of GenAI-powered tools and LLMs, which have drastically heightened the risk of sensitive data being improperly accessed.
Evolving technology and advanced attackers have created new data security concerns for enterprises. There’s more data available than ever, particularly thanks to artificial intelligence (AI) and more interconnected devices. And attackers have noticed.
