Cyber attackers bypass traditional defences as ‘user-driven’ attacks surge, Bridewell warns

Cyber attackers are increasingly sidestepping traditional security tools by exploiting users themselves, according to Bridewell ’s newly released Cyber Threat Intelligence Report 2026 . The report highlights a significant shift in attacker behaviour, with threat actors moving away from malware-heavy campaigns towards identity-driven and socially engineered attacks that operate within trusted systems, often leaving little trace for security tools to detect. Gavin Knapp, Head of Cyber Threat Inte