AI makes cybercrime campaigns cheaper, increasing ransomware attacks

Artificial intelligence is fundamentally altering the economics of cybercrime, making attacks faster and less expensive to execute, as first reported by Channel Insider. Ransomware victims saw a 45% increase in the first half of 2026, while the average underground price for initial access dropped by 69%, from $1,427 to $439. This shift indicates that AI is enabling threat actors to target more organizations with greater speed and scale, even if individual attacks are not necessarily more successful.

Flashpoint's research reveals that threat actors are actively using AI, including malicious or jailbroken large language models, in their daily operations. These tools are employed to generate phishing content, create malware, analyze vulnerabilities, and automate target profiling. The lower cost of entry, driven by AI, allows for more frequent and widespread attacks. Ransomware incidents surged by 45% in the first half of 2026 compared to the previous year, coinciding with a significant decrease in the price of initial access. This economic shift empowers cybercriminals to launch more campaigns against a broader range of targets. Furthermore, the proliferation of stolen credentials, with 7.4 million infostealer-infected hosts yielding approximately 1.7 billion credentials, provides an alternative entry vector for attackers. The increasing availability of exploit code for disclosed vulnerabilities also shortens the window for organizations to patch, putting pressure on security teams. While AI can aid in security automation for managed service providers (MSPs) and managed security service providers (MSSPs), human expertise remains crucial for contextual analysis and decision-making.

Source: Channel Insider