Cybercriminals adopting AI faster than businesses

Cybercriminals are rapidly adopting artificial intelligence (AI), using the technology to identify and exploit vulnerabilities within minutes. This pace of attack leaves many corporate security teams struggling to keep up.

This year is on track to see over 50,000 published common vulnerabilities and exposures, a new record. Research indicates that cybercriminals can now achieve full system compromise in under half an hour from initial access. They are also using AI to craft convincing phishing emails and identify targets with high speed.

Hiring more staff or acquiring additional software tools is insufficient to counter these threats. Organizations must deploy AI within their security operations to detect threats more quickly and remediate them automatically. ServiceNow proposes "shift zero," a practice of real-time risk mitigation as threats emerge.

Integrating automation into routine tasks, such as code writing, allows security agents to monitor and correct vulnerabilities immediately. AI can also identify which existing vulnerabilities are actively being exploited and prioritize remediation, reducing the time to fix attack paths to hours.

Furthermore, AI enhances vendor risk assessment. AI systems can automatically handle security questionnaires and their review, speeding up the process from weeks to an afternoon and producing auditable documentation. While AI manages the initial response, human analysts continue to focus on decisions requiring judgment.