How to Get Started in Cybersecurity 2026

I've been writing versions of this guide since 2008. The most recent big one was the 2019 update, which covers the full tactical ladder—education, building a lab, projects, bug bounties, certifications, conferences, networking—and I still stand behind most of it.But when people ask me how to get into cybersecurity now, in 2026, I find myself giving a different answer. The tactics still matter, and I'll point you at them below. What changed is what sits above the tactics, because AI reset what this industry actually rewards.So this is my current answer, pulled together from everything I've written about careers and skills over the last few years. It comes down to three things:Deeply understanding how things workKnowing how you want them to work differently, or what should exist that doesn't yetHaving extraordinary AI skills that make you better and better at bothI wrote about this trifecta in The Three Components of Becoming AI Antifragile, and the more time passes the more I think it…