7
Cybersecurity entering AI-vs-AI era as attackers, defenders deploy autonomous systems: WEF report
May 9, 2026
Posted 2 days ago by
Cybersecurity is entering an "AI versus AI" era, with companies increasingly deploying autonomous artificial intelligence systems to investigate, detect and respond to cyberattacks at machine speed as hackers themselves rapidly adopt AI-driven attack methods, according to a new World Economic Forum (WEF) white paper released in collaboration with KPMG.The report, titled "Empowering Defenders: AI for Cybersecurity," said attackers are increasingly using AI "to increase the speed, scale and sophistication of threats," forcing cybersecurity systems to evolve beyond traditional human-led defences.
"Adversaries are increasingly operating at machine speed, using AI to conduct reconnaissance of targets and vulnerabilities, generate malware, exploit code, evade detection and launch attacks at scale," the report said. The WEF report noted that what earlier required "weeks of effort can now be executed in minutes," lowering technical barriers for cybercriminals and significantly increasing the scale of attacks. To counter this shift, organizations are increasingly deploying AI-driven systems capable of autonomously analysing threats, investigating suspicious activity and recommending or trigger of certain events .
The Hindu BusinessLine
Coverage and analysis from India. All insights are generated by our AI narrative analysis engine.