Deepfakes and Hallucinations in 2026

By 2026, forecasts indicate that synthetic media could make up a large share of what people see online, undermining trust in authentic information and institutions. Generative models can create highly realistic fake news, cloned voices, and impersonations that are hard for humans to distinguish from real content, especially around elections and crises. This week’s cybersecurity news is dominated by new regulations, continuing ransomware campaigns, and a fresh wave of crypto, cloud, and smart‐contract attacks as 2026 begins. The main themes are tighter laws, insider-enabled breaches, and highly targeted financial and ransomware operations.

AuthorAuthorAuthor

Daniel Masterson, Ai Courtrie Buson & Bard Gee
January 02, 2026

for the week December 28, 2025, 104th edition

Your quick weekend update and reminder.
☝️ TWA

“Agentic AI,” Hallucinations, Deepfakes: Synthetic Content in 2026

Bearded Man

“Is that you or AI?”

LLM-based AI in 2026 is powerful, widely embedded in everyday tools, and genuinely useful—but it also expands the attack surface for hackers, supercharges disinformation, and can quietly leak or distort sensitive data if used carelessly. The biggest risks are less about “sci‑fi takeover” and more about very practical security, misinformation, and governance failures.

🤷‍♀️ What now?: Keep abreast of the different types of cyber attacks and be familiar with the latest technology.

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about this edition and Inside Hexagon

In the upcoming year, and as you may have observed in the last two editions, our focus will shift from the “what” to the “how.” As you may have noticed in Headline Highlights, the specifics of the events may not be of immediate concern to everyone. However, understanding the tactics employed against us while simplifying the message will be more beneficial as we delve into the essential information.

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HOUSEKEEPING

Glossary/Legend:

  • Agentic AI - autonomous artificial intelligence systems that can perceive their environment, reason, plan, and take actions independently to achieve complex goals with minimal human intervention, moving beyond simple command-response to proactive, goal-oriented behavior.

  • LLM or Large Language Model - an advanced AI trained on vast text data to understand and generate human-like text for tasks like chatbots and content creation.

  • Parked Domain - a registered web address (URL) that isn't actively linked to a full website but serves as a placeholder, often showing a generic page or ads, used to reserve the name for future development, protect a brand, or generate passive income from type-in traffic. It's like buying a piece of land but not building a house on it yet. 

  • Holistic security - a comprehensive strategy that integrates various protection layers—physical, digital, psycho-social, and organizational—to safeguard individuals, communities, or systems, recognizing that true security involves overall well-being, not just isolated technical defenses.

  • Personal Identifier - A unique word or phrase shared exclusively with an individual or a group, serving as a means of identification and affirmation within the established relationship. It is recommended that 2 or more Personal Identifiers be established per person.

  • Malware (short for malicious software) - refers to any intrusive software developed by cybercriminals (often called hackers) to steal data and damage or destroy computers and computer systems.

  • Ransomware - A type of malware that locks or encrypts a victim's files and demands a ransom payment to unlock and decrypt them. Ransomware can infect a variety of devices, including computers, smartphones, printers, and more.

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DISCLAIMER

Cybersecurity is an ever-changing field, and threats may evolve. While Hexagon Center strives to provide accurate and timely information, we cannot guarantee absolute security. Users are responsible for implementing their security measures and staying informed about the latest cybersecurity developments. Hexagon Center is not responsible for any cyber or scam attacks by our readers. HX Weekly tips are advice are not official positions of Hexagon Center nor is Hexagon Center responsible for its content.

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