Cybersecurity Insiders announces 2026 Community Choice award winners - scanx.trade

ScanXNewsCybersecurity Insiders announces 2026 Community Choice award winners Cybersecurity Insiders announces 2026 Community Choice award winners 2 min read     Updated on 04 Aug 2026, 10:55 PM Reviewed by Ritika DScanX News Team Add as a preferred source on Google AI Summary Cybersecurity Insiders revealed the 2026 Community Choice Award winners, chosen via 79,455 votes. AI security was a top-voted area, growing from one category in 2024 to ten in 2026. The results reflect industry priorities in security operations, exposure management, and AI controls, coinciding with discussions at Black Hat USA. powered by *this image is generated using AI for illustrative purposes only. Cybersecurity Insiders announced the winners of the 2026 Community Choice Awards on August 4, 2026, in Las Vegas, recognizing industry leaders selected through direct community voting. The awards were determined by 79,455 votes cast during the awards season, with AI security emerging as one of the highest-voted categories. This surge in interest aligns with broader industry trends highlighted during Black Hat USA week, where AI risk management is a prominent conference theme. The Community Choice recognition complements the jury-based awards by highlighting nominees with significant support from the wider cybersecurity professional community. The voting patterns reveal a clear shift in industry priorities toward operational resilience and emerging technology risks. Holger Schulze, founder and CEO of Cybersecurity Insiders, noted that the strongest voting support centered on security operations, exposure management, and AI security. He emphasized the rapid evolution of AI in cybersecurity, stating that while AI security was a single award category in 2024, it now spans ten categories in 2026 as the technology permeates access control, data protection, detection, and response workflows. Survey Findings and Research Priorities The areas attracting the most votes also surfaced as top priorities in Cybersecurity Insiders' survey research. Organizations are focusing on expanding operational capacity to detect and respond to threats at modern speeds and scales. Additionally, there is a heightened emphasis on reducing exploitable risk before attackers can act and establishing robust controls as AI integrates into enterprise data, applications, identities, and workflows. Priority Area Key Focus Industry Trend Security Operations Detecting and responding at scale Expanding operational capacity Exposure Management Reducing exploitable risk Proactive risk mitigation AI Security Establishing controls for AI integration Expansion from 1 to 10 categories What the Numbers Show The expansion of AI security from a single category to ten distinct awards underscores a structural shift in how vendors and enterprises approach artificial intelligence. Rather than treating AI as a monolithic tool, the community is differentiating solutions based on specific functions such as access, data protection, and response. This fragmentation suggests that no single vendor currently dominates the entire AI security stack, creating opportunities for specialized providers. The alignment between voting preferences and survey priorities indicates that market demand is driving product development toward integrated, AI-aware security operations. Cybersecurity Insiders plans to continue examining these shifts through upcoming research into how AI is reshaping security domains, where enterprise defenses are lagging, and what organizations are implementing to close existing gaps. The platform serves a global community of more than 600,000 cybersecurity professionals, including CISOs and security leaders, providing independent research, industry analysis, and solution reviews to inform strategic decisions. How will the fragmentation of AI security into ten distinct categories impact M&A activity among specialized vendors versus integrated platform providers? fuzz it What specific regulatory frameworks are likely to emerge in 2027 to address the 'exploitable risk' gaps identified in AI-integrated enterprise workflows? fuzz it To what extent will the shift toward proactive exposure management drive demand for automated threat hunting tools over traditional reactive SIEM solutions? fuzz it 18