{"id":177516,"date":"2026-01-13T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-01-13T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/13\/ine-security-announces-2026-year-of-the-defender-a\/"},"modified":"2026-01-13T11:05:11","modified_gmt":"2026-01-13T16:05:11","slug":"ine-security-announces-2026-year-of-the-defender-a","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/2026\/01\/13\/ine-security-announces-2026-year-of-the-defender-a\/","title":{"rendered":"INE Security Announces \u201c2026: Year of the Defender\u201d\u2014A"},"content":{"rendered":"

INE Security Announces \u201c2026: Year of the Defender\u201d\u2014A<\/a><\/p>\n

https:\/\/www.globenewswire.com\/news-release\/2026\/01\/13\/3217868\/0\/en\/INE-Security-Announces-2026-Year-of-the-Defender-A-Global-Initiative-to-Position-Technical-Teams-as-the-New-Front-Line-of-Cybersecurity.html<\/a><\/p>\n

Publish Date: 2026-01-13 09:00:00<\/a><\/p>\n

Source Domain: www.globenewswire.com<\/a><\/p>\n

Author: <\/a><\/p>\n

Using an unordered list, summarize the following article with between 4 and 8 key points.
\nCary, NC, Jan. 13, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — As attackers increasingly exploit the “white space” between networks, cloud environments, and code bases, INE Security today announced the Year of the Defender. This initiative recognizes that cyber readiness has been fundamentally redefined: upskilling and cross-training are no longer optional\u2014they are the new foundation of effective defense. In the modern enterprise, technologies once managed in silos are now inextricably linked. This interconnectedness has expanded the attack surface and shifted the burden of defense onto the shoulders of all technical teams. Networking, systems, and development professionals are no longer operating at the periphery of security; they are now the central nervous system of organizational resilience. \u201cCyber readiness is no longer defined by how many tools an organization deploys,\u201d said Alexis Ahmed, Cybersecurity Instructor at INE Security. \u201cIn 2026, readiness depends on whether every technical professional\u2014from the network engineer to the software developer\u2014has the proactive skills to understand how systems connect, where vulnerabilities emerge, and how attackers exploit the gaps between them.\u201d The Front Line: Exploiting Gaps Between Systems and Teams Modern attackers do not target isolated technologies; they exploit misconfigurations, identity weaknesses, and the communication breakdowns between siloed teams. These attack paths move fluidly across networks and cloud platforms, leveraging a lack of cross-domain visibility. The financial impact of these gaps is staggering. In 2025, the global cost of cloud misconfigurations was estimated at $10.3 billion, driven by insecure storage, identity failures, and container vulnerabilities. These failures almost always occur at the intersection of networking and cloud responsibilities where a lack of security-first training leaves an opening. Under the Year of the Defender initiative, INE Security is helping enterprises bridge these gaps by transforming every technical contributor into a proactive defender. Zero Trust and Cloud Complexity Raise the Bar As Zero Trust architecture becomes the industry standard\u2014with 52% of organizations already fully deployed\u2014the technical requirements for infrastructure design have reached a new level of complexity. Simultaneously, 71% of organizations now operate more than 10 separate cloud security tools, leading to massive alert fatigue. To combat this, the Year of the Defender focuses on execution over mere monitoring. By training technical teams in proactive defense and risk prioritization, organizations can reduce the noise and stop threats before they escalate into breaches. AI and Cloud Security: The New Core Competencies Emerging technologies are further reshaping defender expectations. For the second consecutive year, AI security skills and cloud security skills have ranked as the top capabilities required by the market. As technical teams build generalized AI knowledge, they must also understand AI-driven threats. This shift reflects a growing reality: modern defense requires an adaptable, cross-domain skill set that extends far beyond traditional role boundaries. Closing the Risk Multiplier: The Skills Gap Staffing shortages and skills gaps are now primary risk multipliers. IBM\u2019s research confirms that organizations with severe staffing shortages incur significantly higher costs per breach. Furthermore, nearly 69% of organizations report that multiple cybersecurity incidents have been tied directly to a lack of skilled personnel. \u201cTools alone don\u2019t close skill gaps,\u201d added Ahmed. \u201cIn 2026, the organizations that survive and thrive will be those that prioritize the continuous, hands-on training of their technical teams. We are empowering the front line to identify, intercept, and neutralize threats in real-time.\u201d About Year of the Defender The Year of the Defender initiative by INE Security highlights a fundamental shift in cybersecurity strategy: modern defense depends on defenders who understand the entire ecosystem. Through continuous, hands-on training across networking, security, cloud, and emerging technologies, INE is building the next generation of resilient technical workforces. Organizations looking to strengthen defender readiness and close critical skills gaps can learn more about INE\u2019s team training programs at learn.ine.com\/schedule-a-demo. About INE INE is an award-winning, premier provider of online networking and cybersecurity education, including cybersecurity training and certification. INE is trusted by Fortune 500 companies and IT professionals around the globe. Leveraging a state-of-the-art hands-on lab platform, advanced technologies, a global video distribution network, and instruction from world-class experts, INE sets the standard for high-impact, career-advancing technical education. <\/p>\n

INE Security Announces \u201c2026: Year of the Defender\u201d\u2014A Global Initiative to Position Technical Teams as the New Front Line of Cybersecurity<\/p>\n

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INE Security Announces \u201c2026: Year of the Defender\u201d\u2014A https:\/\/www.globenewswire.com\/news-release\/2026\/01\/13\/3217868\/0\/en\/INE-Security-Announces-2026-Year-of-the-Defender-A-Global-Initiative-to-Position-Technical-Teams-as-the-New-Front-Line-of-Cybersecurity.html Publish Date: 2026-01-13 09:00:00 Source Domain:…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":177518,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/ml.globenewswire.com\/Resource\/Download\/cec004fa-df74-44a0-9e59-f2486ac604d4","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[26,30,24,31],"class_list":["post-177516","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cybersecurity","tag-ai","tag-breach","tag-cybersecurity","tag-exploit"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177516"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=177516"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177516\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":177520,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/177516\/revisions\/177520"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/177518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=177516"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=177516"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/testing.news-you-need.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=177516"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}