Shift to Stealthy, Long-Term Access in Cyberattacks
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Picus Labs' Red Report 2026 reveals a strategic shift in cyberattacks from disruptive ransomware to stealthy, long-term access. Analyzing 1.1 million malicious files and 15.5 million adversarial actions, the report highlights a decline in ransomware encryption and an increase in techniques focused on evasion, persistence, and credential theft. Attackers now prioritize remaining undetected, exploiting identities and trusted infrastructure for extended periods. The report underscores the rise of 'Digital Parasites'—malware that operates quietly, avoids detection, and maintains access without causing immediate disruption. This shift signifies a change in attacker success metrics, from immediate impact to prolonged dwell time. Credential theft, process injection, and evasion techniques are now dominant, with 80% of top ATT&CK techniques favoring stealth. The report also notes the limited impact of AI in malware, emphasizing that attackers are winning through stealth and patience rather than advanced AI techniques.
Timeline
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10.02.2026 15:59 1 articles · 9h ago
Picus Labs Red Report 2026 Reveals Shift to Stealthy, Long-Term Access in Cyberattacks
Picus Labs' Red Report 2026, analyzing 1.1 million malicious files and 15.5 million adversarial actions, highlights a strategic shift in cyberattacks from disruptive ransomware to stealthy, long-term access. The report underscores the rise of 'Digital Parasites'—malware that operates quietly, avoids detection, and maintains access without causing immediate disruption. This shift signifies a change in attacker success metrics, from immediate impact to prolonged dwell time. Credential theft, process injection, and evasion techniques are now dominant, with 80% of top ATT&CK techniques favoring stealth.
Show sources
- From Ransomware to Residency: Inside the Rise of the Digital Parasite — thehackernews.com — 10.02.2026 15:59
Information Snippets
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Ransomware encryption (T1486) dropped by 38% from 2024 to 2025, declining from 21.00% to 12.94%.
First reported: 10.02.2026 15:591 source, 1 articleShow sources
- From Ransomware to Residency: Inside the Rise of the Digital Parasite — thehackernews.com — 10.02.2026 15:59
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Credentials from Password Stores (T1555) appear in nearly 23.49% of attacks, making credential theft one of the most prevalent behaviors.
First reported: 10.02.2026 15:591 source, 1 articleShow sources
- From Ransomware to Residency: Inside the Rise of the Digital Parasite — thehackernews.com — 10.02.2026 15:59
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Eight of the Top Ten MITRE ATT&CK techniques are now primarily dedicated to evasion, persistence, or stealthy command-and-control.
First reported: 10.02.2026 15:591 source, 1 articleShow sources
- From Ransomware to Residency: Inside the Rise of the Digital Parasite — thehackernews.com — 10.02.2026 15:59
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Virtualization and Sandbox Evasion (T1497) has become a top-tier attacker tradecraft, with malware evaluating execution context to avoid detection.
First reported: 10.02.2026 15:591 source, 1 articleShow sources
- From Ransomware to Residency: Inside the Rise of the Digital Parasite — thehackernews.com — 10.02.2026 15:59
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AI-driven malware techniques showed no meaningful increase in 2025, with attackers primarily using familiar techniques like process injection and command scripting.
First reported: 10.02.2026 15:591 source, 1 articleShow sources
- From Ransomware to Residency: Inside the Rise of the Digital Parasite — thehackernews.com — 10.02.2026 15:59