The Credential Breach Epidemic Nobody Has Priced In
VANCOUVER, British Columbia, March 10, 2026 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Equity-Insider.com News Commentary — Two out of every three breaches now trace back to stolen credentials, and attackers are reaching Active Directory in an average of just three hours after initial access, according to the Sophos 2026 Active Adversary Report[1]. The scale of the problem is driving capital into the space at speed: the global cybersecurity market is projected to grow from $248.28 billion in 2026 to $699.39 billion by 2034, a 13.8% CAGR driven by accelerating enterprise adoption of post-quantum and AI-powered defense platforms[2]. Companies building the security infrastructure for this environment include Quantum Secure Encryption Corp. (CSE:QSE) (OTCQB:QSEGF) (FSE: VN80), Cloudflare (NYSE:NET), CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD), Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT), and Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP).
Gartner forecasts worldwide IT spending will reach $6.15 trillion in 2026, a 10.8% increase from the prior year, with data center infrastructure spending alone surging 31.7% as enterprises race to upgrade security and AI workloads[3]. In a separate analysis, Gartner named post-quantum cryptography one of the top six cybersecurity trends for 2026, warning that advances in quantum computing will render current asymmetric encryption unsafe by 2030 and urging organizations to begin migration immediately to avoid exposure from "harvest now, decrypt later" campaigns[4].
Quantum Secure Encryption Corp. (CSE:QSE) (OTCQB:QSEGF) (FSE: VN80) reported meaningful early-stage revenue generation alongside rapid international expansion in a business update covering the opening months of calendar year 2026. The Vancouver-based post-quantum security company continues to generate revenue through enterprise deployments, channel partnerships, and renewal activity from existing customers as adoption of its post-quantum security platform expands across markets.
Since November 2025, QSE has expanded from four to thirteen operational markets worldwide, supported by a growing network of eleven value-added distributors. Two additional channel partnerships are expected to close in the near term. These partners handle enterprise deployment, regional sales, and local implementation of QSE's platform capabilities across both commercial and government sectors globally, extending the company's reach into procurement ecosystems that are increasingly prioritizing post-quantum readiness.
"Over the past several months we have focused on building the foundations required for global adoption of post-quantum security solutions," said Ted Carefoot, CEO of QSE. "Our expansion into additional markets, growth of our channel ecosystem, and continued development of our platform capabilities position us to support organizations as they begin preparing for the long-term transition to post-quantum cryptographic standards."
QSE's Quantum Preparedness Assessment (QPA) platform now includes expanded automation for analyzing software bills of materials (SBOM), cryptographic bills of materials (CBOM), and hardware bills of materials (HBOM), providing organizations with structured visibility into cryptographic exposure across complex environments. These enhancements directly support the kind of enterprise-wide migration planning that both federal mandates and Gartner's 2026 guidance now require.
The company also integrated its proprietary quantum-resistant entropy layer into QAuth, its identity and authentication platform, strengthening key generation at the entropy source level and reinforcing cryptographic resilience within identity workflows. QAuth now supports quantum-delivered entropy for authentication protocols, a capability increasingly relevant as enterprises audit cryptographic risk across their identity infrastructure.
QSE further solidified its positioning within Canadian government procurement ecosystems through membership in CADSI (Canadian Association of Defence and Security Industries) and MISA (Municipal Information Systems Association), opening formal pathways into public-sector and defense-related cybersecurity tenders. The company continues to align its commercial expansion with emerging global standards as governments and enterprises assess long-term cryptographic exposure across critical infrastructure and supply chains.
CONTINUED… Read this and more on QSE at: https://equity-insider.com/2025/03/18/is-scope-technologies-corp-cse-scpe-otcqb-scpcf-the-next-big-player-in-quantum-cybersecurity/
Other industry developments and happenings in the market include:
Cloudflare (NYSE:NET) recently became the first and only SASE platform to support modern post-quantum cryptography across its entire zero trust networking stack. The capability extends NIST-standardized post-quantum key agreement to all Cloudflare One products, protecting corporate traffic between users, devices, applications, and networks against quantum-capable decryption threats.
"Securing the Internet against future threats shouldn't be a complex burden, or a reason to fragment the web," said Matthew Prince, CEO and co-founder of Cloudflare. "Since 2017, we've been doing the heavy lifting to bake post-quantum standards directly into the fabric of our network. By bringing this protection to our entire SASE platform, we're making post-quantum security the default. We're ensuring that the secure connections our customers rely on today stay secure for the long haul."
Cloudflare's post-quantum SASE capabilities are available at no additional cost to existing customers, removing the procurement friction that typically slows enterprise-wide cryptographic transitions. The company estimates its global network already handles roughly one-third of all human-generated internet traffic, providing a uniquely scaled deployment surface for post-quantum protections.
CrowdStrike Holdings (NASDAQ:CRWD) recently reported fourth quarter and fiscal year 2026 financial results, reaching $5.25 billion in ending annual recurring revenue, a 24% year-over-year increase driven by record net new ARR of $1.01 billion for the full fiscal year. Q4 revenue hit $1.31 billion, with non-GAAP net income reaching $289.1 million and free cash flow of $376.4 million.
"FY26 will go down in our history books as CrowdStrike's best year yet," said George Kurtz, Founder and CEO of CrowdStrike. "As enterprises rapidly adopt AI, CrowdStrike is mission-critical infrastructure, securing AI across every layer from GPU to agent to prompt. The AI revolution is creating a massive growth opportunity for CrowdStrike, one that our technology, team, and ecosystem are well positioned to continue winning."
CrowdStrike also announced general availability of Falcon AI Detection and Response (AIDR) and FalconID for phishing-resistant multi-factor authentication, while completing acquisitions of SGNL (continuous identity) and Seraphic Security (browser runtime security) to extend the Falcon platform's coverage across emerging AI and identity attack surfaces.
Microsoft (NASDAQ:MSFT) recently reported second quarter fiscal 2026 results, with revenue reaching $81.3 billion, a 17% year-over-year increase. Microsoft Cloud revenue crossed $50 billion in the quarter for the first time, driven by Azure and other cloud services growth of 39%, while the company's AI business scaled to a run rate larger than several of its established franchises.
"We are only at the beginning phases of AI diffusion and already Microsoft has built an AI business that is larger than some of our biggest franchises," said Satya Nadella, Chairman and CEO of Microsoft. "We are pushing the frontier across our entire AI stack to drive new value for our customers and partners."
Microsoft's quantum computing program continued to advance in parallel. The company's Majorana 1 processor, built on proprietary topoconductor technology and a Topological Core architecture, remains on track toward fault-tolerant quantum computing, with DARPA selecting Microsoft for the final phase of its Underexplored Systems for Utility-Scale Quantum Computing program.
Check Point Software Technologies (NASDAQ:CHKP) recently reported fourth quarter and full year 2025 financial results, with Q4 revenue reaching $745 million, a 6% increase year-over-year. Security subscription revenue grew 11% to $325 million in the quarter, reflecting sustained enterprise demand for consolidated security platforms. Non-GAAP earnings per diluted share increased 30% for the full year, while calculated billings grew 9% to nearly $2.91 billion.
"In 2026, our strategy is centered on securing our customers' AI transformation across the enterprise," said Nadav Zafrir, CEO of Check Point. "We are focused on executing against our four strategic pillars, Hybrid Mesh, Workspace, and Exposure Management, while embedding AI-driven security throughout our portfolio."
Check Point also announced three acquisitions in the first quarter of 2026: Cyata (end-to-end AI security for agentic environments), Cyclops (cyber asset attack surface management for complete CTEM solutions), and Rotate (an all-in-one platform for managed security providers), extending the company's coverage across AI governance, exposure management, and the MSP channel.
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SOURCES:
1. https://www.sophos.com/en-us/blog/2026-sophos-active-adversary-report
2. https://www.fortunebusinessinsights.com/industry-reports/cyber-security-market-101165
3. https://www.cio.com/article/4126847/gartner-it-spending-to-exceed-6-trillion-by-2026.html
4. https://www.devopsdigest.com/gartner-top-cybersecurity-trends-for-2026
