AI finds bugs faster and attackers follow in 'Black October' (opens the source in a new tab)
- The WSJ reports a wave of attacks using AI agent AI software that takes actions on its own, like booking, buying or moving money, not just answering questions. and hacking tools, adopted by China- and Russia-linked groups and ordinary criminals.
- Reuters spoke to seven cybersecurity professionals who say AI-found flaws will almost certainly cause more outages like this week's PHP-related ones on government sites. VulnCheck says flaws found doubled year on year, with AI a driver.
- Models can scan code round the clock and turn exploits around in hours. Experts split on whether attackers gain: curl's lead developer says AI-found bugs tend to be exotic.
- 2x
- flaws found, year on year (Reuters)
- 70%
- of websites exposed to new bugs (WSJ)
Why it matters Attackers use AI to move faster than people can respond, and patch windows shrink from weeks to hours. Patching speed becomes a core security measure.
Other side More disclosed flaws do not automatically mean more successful attacks, and AI also helps defenders. A Hunt.io researcher said the criminals he tracked had not yet built a working PHP exploit by Thursday afternoon.