Lumen Unveils 2026 Defender Threatscape Report: Upstream Network Visibility is the New Front Line of Cyber Defense

Key Terms

generative ai technical

Generative AI is a type of computer technology that can create new content, like text, images, or music, on its own. It’s important because it can produce realistic and useful material quickly, which could change how we create art, write stories, or even develop new products. Think of it as a smart robot that can invent and produce things almost like a human.

endpoint detection and response (edr) technical

Endpoint detection and response (EDR) is a cybersecurity system that continuously monitors devices such as laptops, servers, and phones, collecting activity data to spot suspicious behavior, stop attacks, and restore systems. For investors, EDR matters because it lowers the chance of costly data breaches, operational downtime, and regulatory penalties—think of it as a security camera plus a rapid response team for a company’s digital assets, helping protect value and continuity.

zero trust technical

Zero trust is a security approach that assumes no one, whether inside or outside an organization, should be automatically trusted. Instead, every access request is carefully verified before being granted, much like checking ID at every door rather than trusting someone just because they are known. For investors, it emphasizes the importance of protecting digital assets and data from potential breaches, reducing overall risk.

denial-of-service (ddos) botnet technical

A denial-of-service (DDoS) botnet is a network of compromised computers, routers, or Internet-connected devices secretly controlled by attackers to flood a target with traffic until its online services slow or stop. Think of it like a deliberately caused traffic jam that blocks normal visitors from reaching a store. For investors, DDoS attacks matter because they can cause lost sales, repair and security costs, reputational damage, regulatory scrutiny, and short-term stock volatility when a company’s services are unavailable.

malware-as-a-service technical

Malware-as-a-service is a criminal business model where cybercriminals rent ready-made hacking tools, such as ransomware or botnets, to others for a fee or subscription. Think of it like renting a burglar rather than learning to break in yourself: it lowers the skill barrier and increases the volume of attacks. For investors, this matters because it raises the probability and potential scale of cyberattacks that can disrupt operations, cause direct financial losses, trigger regulatory fines, and damage a company’s reputation and stock value.

internet of things (iot) technical

The internet of things (IoT) describes a network of everyday objects—such as appliances, vehicles, and devices—that are connected to the internet and can share data automatically. This connectivity enables these objects to function more efficiently and provides valuable insights for businesses and consumers alike. For investors, IoT represents a growing area of technological innovation with the potential to transform industries and create new market opportunities.

threat intelligence technical

Threat intelligence is actionable information about cyber risks—who might attack, how they operate, and what systems or data are vulnerable—gathered from monitoring networks, software behavior, and public reports. For investors it matters because strong threat intelligence helps a company prevent disruptions, avoid costly breaches and fines, and protect reputation, much like a weather forecast and neighborhood watch help a community prepare for storms and deter crime.

vpn gateways technical

A VPN gateway is a network device or service that creates a secure, encrypted link — like a guarded bridge — between two computer networks or between remote users and a company’s internal systems. Investors care because these gateways protect sensitive data, support remote work and cloud connections, and help meet security and regulatory requirements; failures or breaches can disrupt operations, incur costs, and damage a company’s reputation.

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Black Lotus Labs reveals why upstream network visibility is essential to detecting and disrupting disguised proxies, edge exposure, and AI-driven attacks

DENVER--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- As threat actors traverse the network in new and innovative ways, Lumen Technologies (NYSE: LUMN) today released its 2026 Lumen Defender Threatscape Report, identifying a major shift in the digital battlefield: the most critical signals no longer live on the endpoint, but upstream in the network itself.

2026 Lumen Defender Threatscape Report

This new report, authored by Lumen’s threat research and operations arm Black Lotus Labs, leverages Lumen’s position as one of the world’s largest internet backbone operators to track how cyber criminals have evolved into “heist crews” with industrialized operations. Most notably, it reveals critical insights into how threat actors use disguised proxies, compromised edge devices, and generative AI to pre-stage attacks.

Key Findings

The 2026 Threatscape Report identifies critical shifts in how attackers operate:

• Generative AI as an Operational Engine: Threat actors are using AI to iterate and regenerate malicious infrastructure at machine speed. This automation helps sustain malicious campaigns, compressing the window between exposure and impact.
• Targeting the "Vault Door" at the Edge: As endpoint detection and response (EDR) has matured, attackers have pivoted to internet-exposed edge devices — routers, VPN gateways and firewalls. These assets offer privileged access, limited forensic capabilities, and typically operate outside traditional endpoint security visibility.
• The Rise of Residentially Disguised Proxies: Criminal and nation-state crews are industrializing proxy networks using compromised small office/home office (SOHO) devices. By hijacking these "rentable identities," attackers blend into legitimate residential traffic to bypass Zero Trust and geolocation controls.
• Blurred Lines of Attribution: Elite espionage campaigns are increasingly built on "stolen staging," where nation-state actors hijack criminal infrastructure to hide their fingerprints behind noisy, common criminal activity.

"As attackers shift toward internet‑exposed edge infrastructure, defenders are losing visibility at a critical stage of an attack," said Nat Habtesion, SVP and chief security officer at Lumen. "By seeing attacker infrastructure as it forms at the network layer, Lumen and our Black Lotus Labs team can identify threat actors' activities early, disrupt campaigns in motion, and reduce the operational burden on security teams before damage is done."

The Professionalization of Cybercrime

The report identifies a new standard for cyber operations: the "heist crew" model. Rather than deploying standalone malware, these actors operate with the precision of a logistics firm. They use generative AI to rotate IP addresses and domain names faster than manual defenders can track, and they utilize "rentable identities" through compromised home routers to blend into everyday residential traffic. This highly professionalized setup allows attackers to remain invisible in the "staging grounds" of the network, ensuring that by the time they interact with a target, the path of least resistance has already been cleared.

The Shift to Upstream Intelligence

Traditional defense models often rely on post-infection signals from inside the network. However, the 2026 report demonstrates that by the time an alert triggers on an endpoint, the attacker's preparation — scanning, infrastructure rotation and proxy formation — is already complete.

With visibility into 99% of public IPv4 addresses and while monitoring more than 200 billion NetFlow sessions and 46,000 C2s daily, Lumen’s vantage allows Black Lotus Labs to identify coordinated infrastructure behavior as it emerges. In 2025, Lumen participated in eight multi-partner takedowns and disrupted 5,000 IPs to degrade adversary capabilities.

The report deconstructs several high-profile operations that define this new era:

• Kimwolf: A massive, distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) botnet that scaled to hundreds of thousands of bots in weeks by exploiting residential proxy ecosystems. Lumen observed Kimwolf triple its bot count in just one week and launch attacks reaching 30 terabits per second (Tbps).
• Rhadamanthys: The largest malware-as-a-service platform by volume at the time of takedown that operates like a professional startup, complete with subscription tiers and customer support for more than 12,000 victims.
• Raptor Train: A nation-state botnet that utilized an enterprise-grade control center to manage over 200,000 compromised Internet of Things (IoT) devices.

"Threat intelligence is needed to find the adversary as early as possible and as close to the point of origination as possible," said Chris Kissel, IDC vice-president, Security & Trust. "Lumen's massive infrastructure and the quality of Black Lotus Labs provides optimal visibility of the IP backbone greatly reducing the odds of successful cyber-attack campaigns."

Strategic Guidance for 2026: Neutralizing the Staging Ground

Lumen recommends that organizations shift from reactive indicators to infrastructure awareness. Habtesion concluded, “Effective defense requires neutralizing the ‘staging grounds’, those upstream environments where attackers build their routes, rather than just hardening the final point of intrusion.”

The full 2026 Lumen Defender Threatscape Report is now available for download.

About Lumen Technologies

Lumen is unleashing the world’s digital potential. We ignite business growth by connecting people, data, and applications — quickly, securely, and effortlessly. As the trusted network for AI, Lumen uses the scale of our network to help companies realize AI’s full potential. From metro connectivity to long-haul data transport to our edge cloud, security, managed service, and digital platform capabilities, we meet our customers’ needs today and as they build for tomorrow. For news and insights visit news.lumen.com, LinkedIn: /lumentechnologies, X: @lumentechco, Facebook: /lumentechnologies, Instagram: @lumentechnologies, and YouTube: /lumentechnologies.

Forward-Looking Statement

This press release includes certain forward-looking statements about future events. These forward-looking statements are not guarantees of future results, are based on our current expectations only and are subject to various uncertainties. Actual results may differ materially from those anticipated by us in these statements due to several factors, including those referenced in our filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260407099428/en/

Media Contact:
Danielle Spears
Danielle.Spears@Lumen.com
321-256-3854

Source: Lumen Technologies