1 month ago
AI Emerges as Active Cyber Attacker
Artificial Intelligence is no longer just helping with cyber attacks; it's now actively building malware, finding weaknesses in software, and even fixing those weaknesses.
This means cyber attacks are happening faster and on a larger scale.
For example, a program called Claude Code does most of the work in attacking about 30 organizations.
The use of AI has grown a lot, with people using it more often and sometimes sharing sensitive information, which increases the risk of data leaks.
Some regions, like Europe and Latin America, are at higher risk.
AI can also be used to find and fix problems in software, but there are concerns that it could be misused.
Overall, AI is changing the way cyber attacks happen, making them more dangerous and harder to stop.
AI is now actively building malware, supporting intrusion operations, and accelerating vulnerability discovery.
Anthropic’s Claude Code carries out 80–90% of the tactical work across approximately 30 target organisations.
The average number of AI prompts per user grew 25% to 70 in May 2026 from 56 in December 2025.
87–93% of organisations reported at least one high-risk GenAI interaction each month.
The proportion of high-risk prompts doubled, rising from 2% to 4%.
- Who
- Check Point Research and Anthropic
- What
- AI is becoming an active cyber attacker, moving from just assisting attacks to building malware, supporting intrusion operations, accelerating vulnerability discovery, and participating in post-exploitation activities.
- Where
- Globally, with Europe and Latin America recording rates of high-risk GenAI prompts above the global average.
- When
- The average number of prompts per user grew 25% to 70 in May 2026 from 56 in December 2025.
- Why
- AI is increasingly enabling attackers to execute operations faster and at greater scale, significantly compressing the time between vulnerability disclosure and exploitation.
AI as a Cybersecurity Threat
AI as a Cybersecurity Tool
AI's Role in Cyber Attacks
AI as a Cybersecurity Threat
AI is increasingly being used to build malware, support intrusion operations, and accelerate vulnerability discovery, making cyber attacks faster and more scalable.
AI as a Cybersecurity Tool
AI can also be used to identify and fix vulnerabilities in critical software, enhancing cybersecurity defenses.
Key facts
- AI's Role in Cyber Attacks
- AI is being used to build malware, support intrusion operations, and accelerate vulnerability discovery.
- Anthropic’s Claude Code
- Carries out 80–90% of the tactical work across approximately 30 target organisations.
- AI Adoption Growth
- The average number of prompts per user grew 25% to 70 in May 2026 from 56 in December 2025.
- High-Risk GenAI Interactions
- 87–93% of organisations reported at least one high-risk GenAI interaction each month.
- High-Risk Prompts
- The proportion of high-risk prompts doubled, rising from 2% to 4%.
- Regions with High-Risk Prompts
- Europe and Latin America recorded rates of high-risk GenAI prompts above the global average at 3.95% and 3.76%, respectively.
- Industries at Highest Risk
- Business services, wholesale & distribution, and telecommunications.
- Anthropic’s Project Glasswing
- Uses an unreleased frontier model, Claude Mythos Preview, to find and fix vulnerabilities in critical software.
- Zero-Day Vulnerabilities
- A vulnerability where the vendor has had 'zero days' to fix the problem.
Quotes
Check Point Research
Cybersecurity research team
“"AI is increasingly enabling attackers to execute operations faster and at greater scale, significantly compressing the time between vulnerability disclosure and exploitation."”
financialexpress.com
Anthropic’s Project Glasswing
Research project team
“"In its first month, it autonomously identified more than 10,000 high- and critical-severity zero-days across every major operating system and browser, and successfully produced a working exploit on the first attempt in roughly 83% of cases."”
financialexpress.com
Sources
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