Study: Ransomware Attackers Now Seek Silent, Long-Term Access

According to the Picus Red Report 2026, cyber attackers are shifting away from loud, destructive ransomware encryption toward stealthy, long-term access that stays hidden inside systems for months. The global cyber threat landscape is evolving from high-impact outages to “silent residency,” where attackers maintain hidden access and abuse identity and trusted infrastructure without triggering alarms.

Analyzing more than 1.1 million malicious files and 15.5 million adversarial actions collected across 2025, the report finds that attackers prioritize evasion, credential theft, and persistence over immediate system damage.

“We forced the adversary to evolve,” said Dr. Süleyman Özarslan, co-founder and VP of Picus Labs. “As organizations mastered backups and resilience, the traditional business model collapsed. Attackers no longer need to lock your data to monetize it; they just need to steal it.”

This subtle but fundamental shift is changing how enterprises should think about cyber defense.

Why Ransomware Encryption Is No Longer the Top Indicator

For over a decade, ransomware encryption was the clearest sign of a breach. Locked files, frozen systems, and sudden outages made cyber incidents visible and undeniable.

Now, the Red Report 2026 shows that the prevalence of Data Encrypted for Impact (the traditional ransomware action) has declined by 38 percent from 2024 to 2025.

Instead of locking systems, attackers function more like parasites. They:

• quietly extract sensitive data
• harvest credentials and tokens
• embed themselves within legitimate processes
• and wait for opportunities to extort or exploit later

This transformation means impact is now measured by how long an attacker can remain inside a network without detection.

Identity Theft Drives Control of Systems

As ransomware becomes quieter, identity has become a central battleground.

The Red Report 2026 shows that credential theft – specifically Credentials from Password Stores – appears in nearly one in four attacks (23.49 percent) observed across 2025.

Rather than advanced exploit chains, attackers are increasingly extracting credentials stored in browsers, keychains, and password managers. With valid credentials, lateral movement and privilege escalation – two steps often required for deeper access – become much easier.

When attackers get credentials, they can:

• escalate privileges inside networks
• move laterally unseen
• remain present long enough to deploy follow-on tools
• and exfiltrate sensitive data

This shift makes identity a cornerstone of modern cyber intrusion tradecraft.

Stealth and Persistence Now Dominate Attacker Techniques

The Red Report 2026 reveals that 80 percent of the top ten tactics observed in real attacks focus on evasion, stealth, and long-lived persistence.

Here are some widely used behaviors mapped to the MITRE ATT&CK framework:

Most Observed Behaviors:

Technique	Description
Process Injection (T1055)	Malware runs inside trusted system processes to avoid detection
Boot or Logon Autostart Execution (T1547)	Ensures persistence after reboots
Application Layer Protocols (T1071)	Blends command and control traffic into normal web/cloud traffic
Virtualization/Sandbox Evasion (T1497)	Malware avoids analysis environments and stays dormant when observed

These techniques show how adversaries are avoiding detection by hiding within normal system activities and blending communications into legitimate protocols.

Malware That Learns When to Stay Hidden

Stealth is now a strategy, not just a side effect. Malware often evaluates its environment before deciding whether to execute.

In one example from the Red Report 2026, a malware strain used geometric analysis of mouse movement to decide if it was in a real system or a sandbox. When movement matched patterns typical of automated analysis, the malware held back and did not execute.

This kind of behavior makes traditional sandbox and signature-based detection far less effective.

What About Artificial Intelligence?

Despite hype around AI reshaping cyberattack tools, the Red Report 2026 data suggests AI has not fundamentally changed real-world attacker tactics.

Most attacks still rely on known methods such as process injection and script interpreters, rather than AI-generated payloads or autonomous offensive decision-making.

In observed cases where large language models were used, they acted more as communication aids or predefined decision support, not as autonomous threat engines.

This reinforces that stealth, not AI innovation, is shaping modern malware behavior.

What Organizations Must Do

With attackers optimizing for invisibility, defenders must pivot from reactive detection to proactive defense. This includes:

• validating defense controls against real adversary behaviors rather than tests that focus on signature matches
• strengthening identity management and credential hygiene
• continuous exposure validation against stealth and persistence techniques
• behavior-based detection across infrastructure

Understanding attacker priorities gives defenders a better chance to spot silent invasions before they become costly breaches.

FAQ: What the Red Report 2026 Means for You

What is the Red Report 2026?
It is an annual threat analysis by Picus Labs that examines real malicious files and adversarial actions to identify the most prevalent attacker techniques and evolving trends.

Why does ransomware encryption matter less now?
Attackers are moving away from loud encryption to quiet methods that maintain access and steal data without triggering detection.

What is a ‘Digital Parasite’?
This term describes modern malware that focuses on stealth and long-term residence within systems rather than immediate disruption.

How does credential theft help attackers?
Stealing credentials provides attackers with legitimate access to systems, enabling privilege escalation and lateral movement without noisy exploitation.

Should organizations change their defenses?
Yes. Modern defenses need to focus on behavior tracking, identity protection, and exposure validation rather than only blocking encryption.