AI-driven cyberattacks surge 389% as a new arms race begins

A new report from Fortinet reveals AI-enabled attacks contributed to a 389% year-over-year surge in ransomware victims, signaling a new era of autonomous cyber warfare that pits AI against AI and forces corporations to rethink their entire defense strategy.

“As cybercriminals increasingly use AI to bolster their tactics, cyber defenders must evolve cybersecurity operations into an industrialized defense and adopt AI-enabled tools that respond at the same velocity as modern threats,” said Derek Manky, Chief Security Strategist at Fortinet’s FortiGuard Labs, in the report released April 30.

The report details how malicious actors now operate as interconnected enterprises, using AI to compress attack timelines. This threat was separately highlighted by the recent unveiling of "Claude Mythos," an AI model from Anthropic that can autonomously identify and exploit software vulnerabilities within minutes, a capability previously confined to theory.

The shift forces a move from reactive security to autonomous AI defense, a trend expected to drive significant investment into cybersecurity firms like Fortinet (FTNT), Palo Alto Networks (PANW), and CrowdStrike (CRWD). For the broader market, it introduces systemic risk and new operational costs to counter threats that can materialize faster than human teams can respond.

The New AI vs AI Cyber Era

The core finding from FortiGuard Labs is that cybercrime is no longer a series of isolated campaigns but a fully-fledged system. Malicious groups function as enterprises, complete with access brokers and botnet operators providing services on demand. The introduction of AI acts as a massive force multiplier, automating discovery and exploitation of weaknesses.

Experts warn this collapses the traditional cybersecurity timeline of detect, verify, and patch. “Mythos-class AI collapses this timeline, discovering and weaponising vulnerabilities almost instantly,” Ramesh Laxminarayanan, an executive at HDFC Bank, told CNBC-TV18. Anthropic, the creator of Claude Mythos, has kept the model private but provided limited access to firms like Google, Microsoft, and JPMorgan Chase to test their defenses.

This new paradigm requires what experts are calling "autonomous defensive AI"—systems that can predict, detect, and remediate threats in real time without human intervention. While companies like Fortinet are central to this effort, the pressure is on all sectors to adapt. Nandkumar Saravade, former CEO of the Reserve Bank of India’s IT arm, has called for sector-wise cyber defense missions, particularly for critical infrastructure like energy and telecom.

AI as a Double-Edged Sword

While offensive AI grabs headlines, enterprises are simultaneously using AI to bolster business operations. In a recent announcement, Turkish bank Yapi Kredi said it deployed AI from NiCE (NICE) to analyze customer service conversations. The system identifies hidden sales signals in real time, achieving a 5% conversion rate that surpassed traditional methods.

“Yapi Kredi is setting a powerful example of how AI can turn everyday customer conversations into measurable business growth,” said Darren Rushworth, President of NiCE International. This highlights the dual-use nature of AI: the same underlying technology that powers autonomous threats can also create significant economic value.

For investors, the Fortinet report reinforces the bullish case for the cybersecurity sector. The 389% jump in ransomware victims provides a stark, quantifiable measure of the growing threat landscape. Companies that can provide AI-powered defense are positioned for growth as organizations are forced to upgrade their security posture from a human-led to a machine-speed model. The challenge now is for defenders to innovate at the same pace as the attackers in this escalating AI arms race.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.