Hypervisors – the Next Big Target in 2026

Hypervisors and virtualized infrastructure are drawing more cyberattacks, a trend that reflects organizations’ expanded use of cloud services, containers and artificial intelligence-driven systems, said Jamie Collier, lead threat intelligence advisor for the EMEA region at Google Cloud.

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Hypervisors can be attractive targets since they often lack external security tooling, rely on outdated software and are closely integrated with identity platforms such as Active Directory – creating vulnerabilities and high-impact opportunities for attackers.

“Compromise at the hypervisor level can often then spill out and become a much wider risk for the organization. And that provides both vulnerability, but also but also high payoff for actors, and that’s why we anticipate increased targeting in the year ahead,” Collier said.

The growing use of AI agents, many of which operate with elevated privileges, further increases the attack surface, Collier said.

In this video interview with Information Security Media Group, Collier also discussed:

• Google’s 2026 cloud security forecast;
• Security risks to hypervisors;
• The pros and cons of AI for security.

Collier is focused on helping organizations in the EMEA region identify threat landscapes and build threat intelligence capabilities. He previously served as cyberthreat intelligence team lead at Digital Shadows. He is an associate fellow at the Royal United Services Institute.