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The World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026 says CEOs’ leading cyber concern shifted from ransomware in the 2025 survey to cyber-enabled fraud and phishing in 2026. CISOs still ranked ransomware first. The change reflects different leadership priorities—not the disappearance of ransomware or proof that fraud is the greatest technical danger for every organization.
What changed in the WEF’s 2026 outlook?
In the report’s CEO findings, more than 100 CEO respondents from different industries and regions put cyber-enabled fraud and phishing at the top of their cyber concerns for 2026. Ransomware had held that position in the 2025 survey; AI vulnerabilities ranked second among CEO concerns in 2026.
CISOs gave a different ranking: ransomware remained their leading concern, with supply-chain disruption second. The WEF’s interpretation is that CEOs are emphasizing prevention of financial loss and preparation for emerging threats, while CISOs focus more on operational resilience.
| Leadership role | Leading concern in 2025 | Leading concern in 2026 | What the ranking emphasizes |
|---|---|---|---|
| CEOs | Ransomware | Cyber-enabled fraud and phishing | Financial loss prevention and emerging threats |
| CISOs | Not stated in the cited 2026 report summary | Ransomware | Operational resilience; supply-chain disruption ranked second |
These are separate rankings by role, not a single organization-wide ranking. The comparison describes what survey respondents said concerned them; it does not establish that one risk is objectively more severe in every company.
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What does “cyber-enabled fraud” include?
The WEF identifies phishing—including voice phishing (vishing) and text-message phishing (smishing)—payment fraud, and identity theft as the most commonly reported forms. These methods can target employees, customers, or business payment processes, so the concern is not limited to a single technical system or department.
The report’s analysis says generative AI is lowering barriers and increasing the sophistication of phishing and social engineering. That is the report’s explanation of a wider trend, not proof that AI caused any particular fraud incident or that every phishing attempt now uses AI.
What do the survey figures show?
- 73%: Respondents said they, or someone in their network, had been personally affected by cyber-enabled fraud during 2025. This is a reported personal or network exposure measure—not a count of verified incidents and not a CEO-only result.
- 77%: Respondents reported an increase in cyber-enabled fraud and phishing overall. This measures perceived change, not the same thing as the 73% exposure figure.
- 87%: Respondents experienced rising AI-related vulnerabilities in the previous year.
- 94%: Leaders expected AI to be the biggest force shaping cybersecurity in 2026. This is an expectation recorded in the outlook, not an observed result for the whole of 2026.
The figures describe respondents’ reported experiences and perceptions. They should not be read as incident telemetry, proof of causation, or a universal ranking of risks across businesses.
Why can CEOs and CISOs rank risks differently?
Fraud can create direct financial losses and damage trust, while ransomware can interrupt systems and operations. Those consequences overlap, but senior leaders may see them through different responsibilities: CEOs are accountable for business outcomes and financial exposure, while CISOs must plan for keeping systems and operations resilient. The WEF’s results show that distinction in priorities; they do not mean either group is unconcerned about the other threat.
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The outlook also places supply-chain disruption and AI vulnerabilities in the wider risk picture. They are related context, but they are distinct findings: supply-chain disruption was second for CISOs, AI vulnerabilities were second among CEO concerns, and the AI-related percentages measure respondents’ views rather than fraud incidents.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What should organizations take from the finding?
The shift is a reason to ensure that fraud and phishing risks receive attention alongside ransomware readiness, not to replace one priority with the other. Organizations can review business email security and anti-phishing measures, payment approval and verification procedures, and controls for identity misuse. These are categories to assess against an organization’s own exposure; the WEF finding does not endorse a particular product or establish that any single control is sufficient.
The WEF published its Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026 on 12 January 2026, in collaboration with Accenture. Its rankings are a point-in-time view of reported leadership concerns, and its forward-looking statements concern 2026 rather than confirmed outcomes for the full year.
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