ET-ISAC’s 2026 Security Landscape Highlights Geopolitical, AI and Cloud Risks for European Telcos
Summary
ET-ISAC’s 2026 landscape, based on member input and workshops, identifies priority risks for European telcos, including geopolitical threats, supply-chain dependencies, AI, cloud security, regulation and quantum computing, as well as AI-enabled defense and Elisa’s power
Key points
- ET-ISAC’s annual landscape draws on European telecom security leaders’ input, gathered and prioritized through workshops facilitated by TNO.
- The report identifies eight threats, one opportunity and one development with both characteristics, including systemic resilience, digital sovereignty, supply-chain dependencies and security hygiene.
- It warns that AI adoption, autonomous agents and cloud migration create security and governance challenges, including risks to sensitive data and complex cloud configurations.
- The landscape highlights overlapping European security regulations, the limits of traditional security models, and the need to consider zero-trust approaches and quantum-safe cryptography.
- AI-enabled defense is presented as an opportunity for SOC and CSIRT automation, self-healing networks, red teaming and DevSecOps improvements.
- Elisa’s AI-driven battery system lets mobile network batteries support grid balancing; the report says power-related service disruptions fell by about 70% and service continued for 10–26 hours during severe outages.
Article Details
- Publisher
- ETIS / ET-ISAC
- Report Period
- 2026
- Scope
- Strategic security landscape for European telecommunications providers, including cyber resilience, supply chains, AI, cloud security, regulation, and power resilience.
- Key Statistics
- The 2026 landscape includes eight threats, one opportunity, and one topic with both characteristics.
- Elisa reports that its battery approach reduced power-related service disruptions by approximately 70%; the report does not specify the measurement period or baseline.
- Elisa reports 10–26 hours of service continuity during severe outages, compared with a mandatory 3-hour backup threshold.
- Recommendations
- Develop resilience plans jointly with critical sectors and services on which telcos depend.
- Maintain appropriately sized stockpiles of replacement network equipment and critical spare components.
- Establish robust AI policies and governance, and educate staff to prevent exposure or misuse of sensitive data.
- Migrate toward quantum-safe algorithms and architectures.
- Transition toward modern security models such as zero-trust architectures, with practical migration strategies for legacy infrastructure.