Jasper Sleet

AI is not fundamentally changing adversary capabilities but is compressing attack timelines, lowering operational costs, and scaling existing tactics. Breakout times have dropped to an average of 29 minutes, with AI-enabled operations increasing 89% year-on-year. The most significant emerging threats are runtime-LLM malware (PROMPTSTEAL/LAMEHUG, QUIETVAULT) that query language models during execution, and agentic AI operations (GTG-1002) where AI agents conduct multi-stage intrusions with minimal human steering. Defenders face a dual pressure: faster attacks and an expanding attack surface from AI supply-chain dependencies.

2026-05-135 minMicrosofthigh

Threat actors, particularly North Korean state-sponsored groups, are increasingly operationalizing AI to accelerate cyberattacks. They leverage generative AI for reconnaissance, social engineering, identity fabrication, and malware development, acting as a force multiplier that reduces technical friction while human operators maintain control over objectives.