As we enter 2026, the boundaries between state, criminal, and corporate threat actors have all but dissolved, giving rise to a global environment defined by overlap, coordination, and convergence. The era of isolated incidents, whether cyber intrusions, criminal operations, or geopolitical friction, has evolved into a persistent hybrid threat landscape in which physical, digital, and informational domains continuously intersect and overlap. Today, critical infrastructure, corporate campuses, executive travel routes, and even public perception itself form part of a single, contested battlespace.
For the intelligence and security community, this transformation demands a fundamental shift in how we assess, respond, and mitigate risk. Threat vectors that once fell neatly into the categories of cybercrime, espionage, and physical security risks are now fused together; executed by actors who move seamlessly between virtual exploits using real-world operational tradecraft. State-linked groups outsource capabilities to criminal networks and extremist organizations. These criminal networks and extremist organizations leverage commercial technologies for reconnaissance, targeting, planning and deployment. Unfortunately, public and private-sector businesses increasingly find themselves caught in the crossfire of geopolitical competition.
The past year has revealed an unprecedented rise in critical infrastructure targeting energy grids, water treatment facilities, manufacturing hubs, healthcare networks, rail lines, and distribution centers have all experienced sustained probing and disruption. These are no longer isolated sabotage attempts; they are strategic tests of resilience designed to map dependencies, identify choke points, and exploit gaps between public and private protective measures. As a result, organizations must elevate physical security from a facilities function to an integrated resilience discipline; one that includes access control modernization, cross-domain monitoring, insider-risk mitigation, and hardened perimeter and asset protection.
Simultaneously, Artificial Intelligence-driven (AI) disinformation and deepfake technologies have elevated information warfare to strategic parity with kinetic operations. Synthetic media now enables adversaries to fabricate crises, manipulate employees, spoof corporate leadership, and undermine institutional trust at machine speed creating operational confusion that can translate into real-world safety risks, civil unrest, or targeted threats to personnel. As of November 2025, cyber-security experts disrupted a highly sophisticated AI-led espionage campaign. Upon further evaluation, the attack is believed to be the first documented case of a large-scale AI cyber attack executed without substantial human intervention.
At RMS International, we face this landscape with clear eyes and a singular mission: to equip our clients with intelligence that anticipates, physical security that adapts, and strategies that endure. Our analysts, investigators, intelligence teams, and security specialists operate at the intersection of technology, geopolitics, and real-world risk delivering decision advantage in an era when traditional reaction time can no longer keep pace with threat velocity.
The RMS International 2026 Threat Assessment reflects this philosophy. It is more than a forecast; it is a framework for operational resilience designed to help organizations navigate the convergence of digital, informational, and physical risks that define the modern threat environment. Our commitment is unwavering: to provide intelligence-driven security that protects people, infrastructure, and mission-critical operations in the year ahead.
*This has been an excerpt from RMS International’s 2026 Threat Forecast. You can request the document in its entirety using the online form or by emailing mnieminski@rmsiusa.com
ABOUT RMS INTERNATIONAL
Founded in 2012, RMS International provides ad hoc and contracted executive and close protection services, corporate and residential security, travel security management programs, cyber security, and full-scale intelligence services. RMS International operates a state-of-the-art Risk Operations Center in West Palm Beach, Florida, providing 24/7/365 overwatch of global operations throughout the Americas, Middle East, Asia, Europe, and Africa. RMS International delivers peace of mind in a chaotic world. Connect with us at: www.RMSIUSA.com.
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