Companies expand cyber defenses as AI speeds attacks

AI is accelerating cyber threats and increasing pressure on companies to patch vulnerable systems, prompting greater investment in automated security tools. Nearly 37,000 security flaws were reported in the third quarter of 2026, tripling from a year earlier, according to the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list. Security executives say serious incidents are arriving faster than conventional IT teams can manage.

Attacks on supermarket refrigeration systems across Europe forced retailers to discard millions of dollars’ worth of spoiled food. Ahold Delhaize suffered more than €200 million ($225 million) in sales losses following a separate intrusion that led it to take websites and apps offline. Binance, where hackers stole $6.3 billion worth of cryptocurrency, said it would increase investment in AI-enhanced detection.

Booking.com has hundreds of engineers building AI-powered defenses. German hosting company Ionos has deployed AI-based monitoring and AI-assisted patching around the clock, while the Port of Rotterdam is developing an AI-powered cyber shield. Siemens is also testing advanced AI models for defensive security.

The same tools can accelerate exploitation. Claroty researchers used widely available AI tools to reproduce refrigeration-controller vulnerabilities for “six dollars and 28 minutes,” demonstrating how quickly attackers could follow disclosed research. After AI-discovered PHP flaws became public, Cloudflare reported exploitation attempts rising from thousands to millions within hours. Companies increasingly face a race to deploy defensive automation before attackers exploit newly exposed weaknesses.