GoKawiilRemote access and trusted administrative tools play a central role in how organizations operate today. According to Blackpoint Cyber’s 2026 Annual Threat Report, they are also increasingly central to how intrusions begin.
Informed by analysis of thousands of security investigations conducted during the reporting period, the report highlights a shift in attacker behavior. Rather than relying primarily on vulnerability exploitation, threat actors frequently gained access by using valid credentials, legitimate tools, and routine user-driven actions.
The report examines these patterns, documents where intrusion activity was disrupted, and presents defensive priorities derived from analyzed incident response outcomes observed throughout 2025.
Additional data and incident walkthroughs will be covered during an upcoming live webinar hosted by Blackpoint Cyber.
➡️ Register here
Key Findings From the 2026 Annual Threat Report
Attackers Are Entering Through Legitimate Access Paths
Across incidents analyzed in the report, attackers were more likely to log in using legitimate access than to exploit vulnerabilities as their primary entry point.
SSL VPN abuse accounted for 32.8 percent of all identifiable incidents, making it one of the most common initial access vectors. In many cases, threat actors authenticated using valid but compromised credentials, resulting in VPN sessions that appeared legitimate to security controls.
Once access was established, these sessions often provided broad internal reach, allowing attackers to move rapidly toward high-value systems without immediately triggering alerts.
... continue reading