Ransomware Dethroned by Cyber Fraud: Insights from the WEF’s Cybersecurity Outlook 2026

For the fifth year running, the World Economic Forum’s Global Cybersecurity Outlook report has provided a critical snapshot of the evolving cyber threat landscape – and this year’s findings mark a turning point.
Cyber-enabled fraud has now overtaken ransomware as the top cybersecurity concern for organizations worldwide, signaling a fundamental shift in how attackers operate and the risks businesses face.
In this episode, we sit down (4.55) with Giulia Moschetta, a research and analysis specialist at the World Economic Forum's Centre for Cybersecurity and one of the report’s lead authors, and Akshay Joshi, head of the WEF’s Centre for Cybersecurity, to break down the findings and what they mean for the future of cybersecurity. The discussion explores why fraud, from sophisticated payment scams to AI-driven social engineering, has become the dominant threat, while ransomware, though still potent, is no longer the sole focus of cyber defenses.
Resources:
-Global Cybersecurity Outlook 2026, Centre for Cybersecurity, World Economic Forum: https://www.weforum.org/publications/global-cybersecurity-outlook-2026/
-“World Economic Forum: Cyber-Fraud Overtakes Ransomware as Business Leaders' Top Cybersecurity Concern,” Infosecurity Magazine: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/fraud-overtakes-ransomware-as-top/
-Unmasking Cybercrime: Strengthening Digital Identity Verification against Deepfakes, Cybercrime Atlas, World Economic Forum: https://reports.weforum.org/docs/WEF_Unmasking_Cybercrime_Strengthening_Digital_Identity_Verification_against_Deepfakes_2026.pdf
-“World Economic Forum: Deepfake Face-Swapping Tools Are Creating Critical Security Risks,” Infosecurity Magazine: https://www.infosecurity-magazine.com/news/wef-deepfake-faceswapping-security/