Industry executives and experts share their predictions for 2026. Read them in this 18th annual VMblog.com series exclusive.
By Sandy Kronenberg, founder and CEO, Netarx
For years, enterprises have treated “trust” as a brand value. It’s earned through reputation, not engineered through systems. That era is over. As deepfakes have evolved from amusing internet novelties into serious threats that undermine the very notion of trust in enterprise communications, one thing has become clear: we now live in a reality where neither seeing nor hearing is believing. The deepfake tipping point has arrived, and trust is no longer an abstract idea but rather, core, required infrastructure. As AI-generated content erodes authenticity heading into 2026, organizations must now defend not just their data, but belief itself.
From Cybersecurity to Perception Security
Traditional cybersecurity has long focused on protecting networks and endpoints – building digital walls around networks, devices and data. But as AI blurs the line between truth and fabrication, those walls no longer protect what matters most: perception. Deepfake attacks don’t rely on malware or stolen credentials; they exploit human trust in what looks or sounds legitimate. When any message, call or video can be forged by AI, the integrity of business interactions is at stake. These systems simply can’t protect against a compromised human.
Enterprises that endure this new era of AI deception won’t simply detect deepfakes. They’ll verify authenticity as a discipline. Just as we built security operations centers (SOCs) to manage digital threats, organizations will build trust operations: teams dedicated to confirming identity, validating content and preserving credibility in a world of machine-made misinformation.
The Coming Wave of Disinformation Defense
This is where we’re headed:
Deepfakes are no longer limited to fake videos. They have evolved into a multimodal disinformation security threat spanning AI-generated voices, images, texts, emails and any channel where trust can be exploited. In the next year, enterprises will move from early exploration to wide-scale deployment of disinformation defense platforms, spurred by the fact that 62% of organizations have already encountered deepfake-based social engineering attacks.
Forward-looking organizations are establishing dedicated “trust operations” and appointing Chief Trust Officers to ensure authenticity and guard against AI-generated fraud and impersonation. Boards and regulators are also raising the stakes with global policies pushing for transparency and clear labeling of synthetic content. Gartner predicts that by 2026, 30% of enterprises will abandon vulnerable verifications like facial recognition as deepfakes render them unreliable, and new laws (such as the EU’s AI Act) will require clear labeling of AI-generated media.
2026 marks a pivotal shift – from general awareness of disinformation and deepfake threats to decisive enterprise action. Disinformation defense will emerge as the next cybersecurity battleground, recognized as core infrastructure and an operational necessity for maintaining organizational trust. The companies that act now will be the ones that avoid the costly impact of the next wave of cyber-enabled deception.
Authenticity as the Next Competitive Advantage
In regulated industries, disinformation has evolved into more than a security risk and into a compliance and liability issue. In healthcare, a single synthetic patient record could distort outcomes and accountability. In finance, deepfake-enabled impersonation is dismantling long-standing identity checks like voice verification. These are early warning signs of what’s ahead.
The next frontier of resilience lies in authenticity frameworks: systems that continuously verify provenance, validate content and monitor for synthetic signals in real time. Accountability must extend beyond the security team. Every department that communicates externally or handles sensitive data needs to understand how AI can mimic or manipulate their work.
Organization boards should also evolve their oversight, asking not only “Are we secure?” but “Are we authentic?” As AI-generated media grows indistinguishable from reality, authenticity will define brand integrity, customer trust and market stability.
Engineering Trust for the AI Era
Defending against AI-driven deception will require the same level of investment and urgency that companies once devoted to firewalls, data security, antivirus and network defense. In 2026, we can expect to see disinformation defense platforms and AI-driven content verification tools rapidly become as standard as spam filters in the enterprise. The organizations that adapt first will set the standard for digital resilience.
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Sandy Kronenberg is the CEO of Netarx and has more than two decades of experience helping organizations strengthen their cybersecurity posture. He writes frequently about the intersection of artificial intelligence, digital identity and organizational resilience, with a focus on how technology leaders can adapt to emerging threats.
