2026 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards: 80,000 Votes Determine Community Choice Winners

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2026 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards have revealed the recipients of the Community Choice Award, determined by 79,455 votes cast during the awards season.

Community Choice Award Details

The 2026 Cybersecurity Excellence Awards have revealed the recipients of the Community Choice Award, determined by 79,455 votes cast during the awards season. This year’s results were announced on August 4, 2026, coinciding with Black Hat USA week, a major event in the cybersecurity calendar. The Community Choice Award stands as the sole category evaluated through direct community voting, complementing jury-selected honors by highlighting nominees’ broader industry recognition.

Holger Schulze, founder and CEO of Cybersecurity Insiders, emphasized the significance of the voting trends. He noted that security operations, exposure management, and AI security received the highest community support. Schulze highlighted that AI security, which was a single category in 2024, has expanded to ten distinct categories in 2026, reflecting its integration into various aspects of cybersecurity such as access control, data protection, threat detection, and response mechanisms.

Industry Priorities and Research

Research conducted by Cybersecurity Insiders this year aligns with the voting patterns, identifying key priorities for the industry. These include enhancing operational capabilities to detect and respond to threats at scale, minimizing exploitable risks before they can be exploited, and implementing robust controls as AI becomes more embedded in enterprise environments. The organization plans to further explore these developments through upcoming studies on how AI is transforming security domains, where enterprise defenses are lagging, and the measures organizations are taking to address these gaps.

About the Cybersecurity Excellence Awards

The Cybersecurity Excellence Awards, now in their 13th year, recognize companies, products, and professionals driving advancements in cybersecurity. The awards combine jury evaluations with community-driven recognition, offering a comprehensive approach to acknowledging achievements and industry support. Presented by Cybersecurity Insiders, an independent platform serving over 600,000 cybersecurity professionals globally, the awards highlight the evolving landscape of cybersecurity through research, analysis, and expert insights.