"Most good security work is invisible by design. Today is the exception." — The Hacker News
Scale and categories of the 2026 Cybersecurity Stars Awards
The 2026 Cybersecurity Stars Awards announced winners across multiple specialty tracks, described in the announcement as spanning four main award categories. The release says winners were announced across 95 subcategories in one passage and—elsewhere in the same text—refers to the program spanning 97 subcategories. Regardless of the numeric discrepancy, the organizers present a very broad slate of recognition intended to capture narrow technical work as well as larger programs.
How entries were judged: independent panel, three criteria
Every nomination, the announcement says, was reviewed by an independent panel of judges. Entries were scored against three explicit criteria: innovation, impact, and technical excellence. Organizers emphasized that entries were not ranked by popularity, brand size, or campaign reach; instead, judges evaluated “the work itself.”
Topics spotlighted: agentic AI, post‑quantum, software supply chain, and more
The winners list covers a wide range of modern security concerns. The announcement names specific subfields that were recognized, including:
- agentic AI security
- AI SecOps and AI security testing
- post‑quantum cryptography
- continuous threat exposure management
- extended detection and response (XDR)
- software supply chain security
- identity threat detection and response (ITDR)
- secure access service edge (SASE)
- zero trust security
Those topic labels indicate the awards were intended to reflect emerging technical priorities as well as established disciplines, and the organizers stress that “products that quietly close real gaps” and “teams that stop incidents nobody reads about” were part of what the awards seek to recognize.
Recognition model: multiple winners and standards over headline metrics
The program does not insist on naming a single winner per subcategory. The announcement makes clear that “some subcategories have more than one winner” and that the awards “recognize every entry that meets the standard, not just one per category.” That approach means the awards are intended less as a popularity contest and more as a floor-setting recognition of technical achievement.
What this means for companies, judges, and future entrants
Companies, teams, and practitioners who entered: the announcement congratulates winners and thanks “every company, team, and practitioner who entered,” indicating the program’s immediate goal is recognition for work that typically receives little public notice.
Judges and organizers: the independent-panel model and the explicit three evaluation criteria suggest judges were tasked with making technical calls rather than marketing assessments, privileging measurable innovation, demonstrable impact, and technical depth.
Future entrants and observers: nominations for the 2027 awards are slated to open later this year, and the announcement invites interested parties to join a waiting list to be notified when submissions open.
Security work often becomes visible only in failure; this awards cycle was framed as a deliberate counterweight to that reality. The complete 2026 winners list is published and available at the organizers’ site: awards.thehackernews.com/winners/2026/. For the original announcement, see: https://thehackernews.com/2026/06/cybersecurity-stars-awards-2026-winners.html.
