According to cloud-enabled security solutions provider Barracuda Network, about 71 per cent of respondents had experienced a ransomware attack over the last year, and 61 per cent paid the ransom.

Half of the Population Believes AI Will Empower Hackers to Carry Out Increased Attacks

One in two (50 percent) of people believe that artificial intelligence (AI) will allow hackers to carry out more attacks, according to a recent report.

According to cloud-based security solutions provider Barracuda Network, about 71 percent of respondents had experienced a ransomware attack in the past year, and 61 percent paid a ransom.

“Proactive monitoring and detection of attacks to prevent progression to more serious stages such as data exfiltration or ransomware. By preparing for these scenarios today, organizations can significantly reduce the impact and cost of these incidents,” said Fleming Shi, CTO of Barracuda.

In September 2023, the report surveyed a total of 1,917 information security professionals in the United States (522), the United Kingdom (372), France (329), Germany (425), and Australia (269).

The final respondent sample represented companies with 100–5,000 employees.

Additionally, the report found that the average annual cost of responding to compromises was $5.34 million.

The majority (57 percent) of respondents reported that their organization had suffered one or more cyber attacks in the past 12 months.

Some 48 percent said their organizations suffered a data breach in the past 12 months, losing an average of 340,267 individual records.

Among the various types of attacks, respondents said denial of service (52 percent), phishing/social engineering (48 percent), and identity theft (41 percent) were the three most common their organizations experienced.

“Hackers follow a similar path, but instead of starting to research products for potential purchases, they start finding thousands of potential targets. They then move down the funnel to identify targets with vulnerabilities they can exploit, launch their attacks, and ultimately reap the rewards.” , the report said.

While more than half (54 percent) of respondents said that attackers’ increased use of artificial intelligence, or GenAI, will require new approaches to securing their organization, only 39 percent believe their security infrastructure is adequately equipped to protect against GenAI-based security attacks.