Artificial intelligence (AI) has moved beyond being just a buzzword – it’s now a transformative force redefining the digital landscape. From the way we work and shop online to how we communicate, learn, and safeguard our information, AI is driving the next major shift in the evolution of technology and intelligent systems. Yet while it unlocks new opportunities, it also introduces new risks.
Cyber adversaries are quickly adopting AI to refine their tactics, bypass traditional defenses, and carry out increasingly sophisticated attacks. To stay ahead of these threats, organizations must go beyond awareness and lead the charge by embracing AI-powered security strategies that can outmaneuver evolving threats.
Attackers today are utilizing AI across several stages of their operations, enabling them to automate tasks, enhance precision, and evade detection – and companies must use the same technology to combat them.
The Attack of AI
According to SoSafe’s Cybercrime Trends 2025 report, 87% of global organizations have faced an AI-powered cyberattack in the past year, and that threat is only accelerating. SoSafe also estimates that $13.82 trillion will be the global cost of cybercrime by 2028, a 50% increase compared to 2024.
By leveraging AI across their operations, attackers are reshaping the entire threat landscape. For example, with AI-powered tools, they can automate the collection of intelligence on potential targets, analyze network configurations, employee data, social media scrape, and find the right vulnerabilities for a highly targeted attack. Alongside this targeted profiling, attackers can leverage AI to create highly convincing phishing emails, deepfake audio, and synthetic media to manipulate individuals into sharing sensitive information, or even bypass typical security protocols.
On the organizational level, attackers can use AI to accelerate the identification and exploitation of existing vulnerabilities in security processes, giving organizations less time to patch systems before they’re compromised. They can also use AI to empower botnets to launch large-scale, adaptive Denial-of-Service (DDoS) attacks that overwhelm network defenses and disrupt critical services. AI technologies also enable attackers to simulate attacks and test their different techniques in real-time, allowing them to find the most optimal strategy for maximum impact.
With bad actors rapidly advancing their capabilities through AI, it’s no longer a question of if an attack will occur, but when – which makes proactive, AI-driven defense strategies more critical than ever.
AI-Powered Defenses
For organizations, proactive AI-powered defenses are the key solution to combating “new age” cybersecurity attackers. Through robust security measures, organizations can ensure that their data is secure and safe.
AI-driven security solutions, such as advanced AI-powered security information and event management (SIEM) and endpoint direction and response (EDR) platforms, can detect and respond to threats in real time. By analyzing a vast amount of data, these solutions can identify anomalies and malicious activity that would otherwise be evaded by traditional security tools. To take this a step further, organizations can deploy hyper-automation tools that speed up and create more efficient incident response processes, ultimately reducing response times and minimizing the impact of cyberattacks.
For proactive uses, organizations can leverage AI to create more robust vulnerability assessment tools that prioritize and remediate critical vulnerabilities or security flaws based on actionable threat intelligence. Additionally, through AI-powered platforms, organizations can analyze threat data from several sources to enable proactive identification and perfectly curate the intelligence to be relevant to their business risks. Last, but not least, organizations can employ AI-powered analytics to uncover hidden attack patterns and gain deeper insights into potential breaches.
The new age of AI-powered cybersecurity solutions – and attacks – has just begun, and it’s critical for organizations to keep ahead of their adversaries.
Building a Resilient Defense
Across industries, cybersecurity leaders and C-level executives are increasingly aware of the risks introduced by AI-driven technologies. But awareness alone isn’t enough – what’s often overlooked is the importance of taking strategic action based on that awareness.
Comprehensive cybersecurity assessments create a foundation for organizations to see where they are, and what they need to do to go forward. They offer a clear, prioritized view of an organization’s vulnerabilities, and empower leaders to make informed decisions around resource allocation, risk mitigation, and long-term planning. These assessments also help justify security investments, shape policy updates, and guide the development of effective incident response strategies. They even extend beyond internal systems to evaluate third-party vendors, ensuring that security measures align with broader business objectives and strengthening overall organizational resilience in the face of evolving AI-powered threats.
Through these assessments, organizations can better understand the effectiveness of their current security controls, providing them with critical assurance of their performance and reliability. As AI-powered security continues to accelerate, the focus on assessing these solutions and potential threats will become increasingly important to safeguard sensitive data and maintain system integrity.
The Future of AI-Powered Security
As AI continues to evolve, so too will the efforts of attackers who want to exploit it. The organizations that thrive in this new era won’t be the ones that simply react to threats – they’ll be the ones that anticipate them.
By embracing AI not only as a defensive tool but as a core component of a forward-looking security strategy, businesses can shift from a position of vulnerability to one of resilience. The path forward demands continuous assessment, investment in intelligent technologies, and a commitment to staying ahead of adversaries who are moving faster than ever. In the battle of AI versus AI, the winners will be those who innovate first, adapt fastest, and never stop evolving.
