Veronica Canton, Optimized Leverage on cybersecurity risk
Veronica Canton, Optimized Leverage on cybersecurity risk
https://securityjournalamericas.com/veronica-canton-cybersecurity-risk/
Publish Date: 2026-02-06 04:04:00
Source Domain: securityjournalamericas.com
The Americas are experiencing rapid changes in cybersecurity risk, accelerated AI adoption and a fragmented regulatory landscape, says Veronica Canton, Founder and Chief Vision Officer, Optimized Leverage.
Cybersecurity in 2026
As a cybersecurity, data privacy and AI attorney advising transnational corporations, I see 2026 as the year when cybersecurity, AI governance and compliance will be highly interconnected.
In the US, we will witness the ongoing evolution of business email compromise (BEC), ransomware and AI-enabled fraud.
Threat actors (TA) will use AI-powered tools to bypass multi-factor authentication (MFA) and execute BEC and ransomware with greater precision.
There will be an increase in BECs that will turn into ransomware attacks that expose consumer data, thereby increasing regulatory compliance and reporting obligations for impacted companies.
A company’s size will remain irrelevant; TAs will continue attacking small, medium and large corporations alike. No industry will be safe from targeted attacks.
The expansion of state-level privacy laws will continue impacting how companies secure data, manage vendors, create or update cybersecurity response programs and govern AI systems.
The operational costs of mismanaging data, cybersecurity incidents or deploying AI without proper safeguards to protect against TAs will increase regulatory exposure and class-action litigation risk.
Canada will see regulators signal stronger expectations for transparency, breach notification and AI accountability in 2026.
As businesses move towards modernizing and implementing AI, similar to the US, TAs will target Canadian small, medium and large companies that hold consumer data, yet lack proper intrusion detection or cybersecurity incident response programs.
Compliance will be a key factor in companies building stronger governance structures capable of meeting the increased regulatory scrutiny.
Latin America represents…
