Cybermatch tools
Cyber Trends
What the cybersecurity market is actually searching for. 209 keywords across 29 categories, scored for search volume, ranking difficulty, and 12-month growth — so you can tell a genuine shift in demand from a vendor marketing cycle.
Updated September 5, 2026Source: Ahrefs, United States
- Keywords tracked
- 209
- Categories
- 29
- Emerging
- 68
- Avg difficulty
- 44
What the data shows
Cybersecurity search demand is not evenly distributed. A handful of evergreen terms — phishing, ransomware, general awareness — carry enormous volume and correspondingly brutal difficulty, while the categories where buyers make actual purchasing decisions sit in the long tail, at a fraction of the volume and a fraction of the competition.
The sharpest recent mover in the top 25 is how to spot phishing emails, up 24,755% over three months against a difficulty of 80. Movements this steep usually mean a term is crossing from practitioner jargon into buyer vocabulary — which is exactly the window where content ranks before the category consolidates.
14 of the top 25 are flagged emerging, meaning their trajectory is rising rather than merely large. 2 carry a difficulty under 25, the band where a site without heavy domain authority can realistically reach page one. That tension is what the opportunity score exists to resolve: it rewards keywords whose growth and volume outrun the difficulty of ranking for them.
Top 25 opportunities
Ranked by opportunity score. The full 209-keyword dataset, with filters, CPC, traffic potential and 6-month forecasts, is free behind a short form.
| Keyword | Category | Volume (US) | Difficulty | 3mo | 12mo | Opportunity |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
how to spot phishing emailsEmerging | Threats - Phishing/Social | 14,000 | 80 | +24,755% | +23,509.4% | 696 |
cybersecurity awareness | General Cybersecurity | 740,000 | 55 | -99.7% | -1.6% | 333 |
what is phishingEmerging | Threats - Phishing/Social | 265,000 | 76 | +203.1% | +257.7% | 193 |
what is malwareEmerging | Threats - Ransomware/Malware | 140,000 | 40 | +75.4% | +66.7% | 147 |
ai governance complianceEmerging | AI Compliance | 900 | 39 | +15,100% | +17,066.7% | 83 |
what is a data breachEmerging | Threats - Data Breach | 16,000 | 39 | +699.4% | +462.8% | 78 |
cybersecurity newsEmerging | General Cybersecurity | 109,000 | 86 | +379.2% | +609% | 73 |
ransomware newsEmerging | Threats - Ransomware/Malware | 8,000 | 31 | +1,062.2% | +1,394.4% | 64 |
cybersecurityEmerging | General Cybersecurity | 279,000 | 86 | +63.6% | +8% | 64 |
what is ransomwareEmerging | Threats - Ransomware/Malware | 164,000 | 76 | +59.9% | +50.3% | 63 |
vulnerability assessmentEmerging | Endpoint & Vulnerability | 14,000 | 15 | +293% | +319.6% | 47 |
what is a phishing attackEmerging | Threats - Phishing/Social | 14,000 | 82 | +1,171.2% | +595.3% | 32 |
soar | Operations - SOC/SIEM | 41,000 | 28 | +1.8% | -6.4% | 30 |
siem | Operations - SOC/SIEM | 35,000 | 58 | -6.1% | +3.6% | 15 |
smishing | Threats - Phishing/Social | 24,000 | 42 | +0.2% | +7.7% | 14 |
vishing | Threats - Phishing/Social | 19,000 | 28 | -0.7% | +11.3% | 14 |
penetration testing | General Cybersecurity | 24,000 | 50 | -9.1% | +7.3% | 12 |
cybersecurity best practicesEmerging | General Cybersecurity | 12,000 | 42 | +72.1% | -8.5% | 12 |
data breach | Threats - Data Breach | 76,000 | 85 | -46.1% | +21.6% | 11 |
cybersecurity tips | General Cybersecurity | 13,000 | 16 | +1.1% | +38.6% | 11 |
cyber attackEmerging | General Cybersecurity | 32,000 | 74 | +28.5% | -20.9% | 11 |
cyber security | General Cybersecurity | 96,000 | 89 | -20.5% | -20.2% | 11 |
cveEmerging | Endpoint & Vulnerability | 17,000 | 58 | +39.5% | +49.9% | 9.96 |
pam | Identity | 22,000 | 59 | +5% | +14.7% | 9.47 |
edr | Operations - SOC/SIEM | 20,000 | 53 | -3.1% | +1.8% | 9.40 |
184 more keywords behind the form
The full dashboard adds search and filtering by category, intent and emerging status, plus CPC, traffic potential, global volume, 3/6/12-month movement and a six-month volume forecast for every keyword.
Unlock the full dataset