Red Report 2026

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Methodology

Between January 2025 and December 2025,
Picus Labs analyzed 1,153,683 unique files, of which
1,084,718 (94.02%) were malicious.

This research mapped over 15.5 million adversarial
actions to the MITRE ATT&CK® framework.
Sourced from commercial threat intel,
sandboxes, and underground forums, this data
identifies the 2026 tactical landscape to help
teams shift from hunting files to hunting behavior.

The Rise of the Digital Parasite

Adversaries have fundamentally traded "predatory" smash-and-grab tactics for "parasitic" silent residency. The Red Report 2026 confirms a strategic pivot toward burrowing into legitimate processes to hide from your organization's immune system. With Defense Evasion, Persistence, and C2 tactics accounting for 80% of the top ten techniques, it is clear that blending in has become far more critical to attackers than breaking in.

KEY FINDINGS

The Anatomy of the Digital Parasite

Discover the six behavioral traits that define modern stealth malware and learn why your current security stack is blind to residency.

Ransomware Encryption Drops 38%

Attackers have abandoned loud encryption for silent extortion, trading immediate disruption for long-lived, high-value network access and data theft.

Malware Becomes "Self-Aware"

New threats use trigonometry and mouse-angle math to detect sandboxes, "playing dead" to bypass automated security cameras and analysis.

Living Off Trusted Cloud APIs

Adversaries hide commands inside platforms like OpenAI and AWS, masking malicious traffic as legitimate business work to bypass traditional firewalls.

The Strategic Pivot to Logins

Nearly 1 in 4 attacks now targets stored credentials to "log in" rather than hack in, making identity weaponization a primary goal.

80% Focused on Evasion

Eight of the top ten techniques prioritize staying hidden. Success is now measured by dwell time rather than immediate destruction.

Hiding in Plain Sight

Malware renames files to mimic legitimate system processes, hiding in plain sight and turning your trusted environment into its own camouflage.

CHAPTERS OF INFECTION

Top 10 MITRE ATT&CK® Techniques

The most prevalent ATT&CK techniques identified in 2025 are ranked by the percentage of malware samples exhibiting each behavior. Click on a technique to explore its details: how to simulate it (red team exercise), how to detect and mitigate it (blue team exercise), and which threat actors and malware leverage it against specific targets.