A new report on cybersecurity threats shows that artificial intelligence has become an important tool in the hands of cybercriminals; so much so that 84 percent of ransomware victims surveyed experienced attacks in which attackers used artificial intelligence. The report also notes an increase in psychological and physical threats against victims and their families.
The "Ransomware Risk Report 2026" published by cybersecurity company Semperis is based on a survey of 1,200 IT and security professionals in 9 countries and 8 industry sectors.
The findings of this review indicate that the use of artificial intelligence is no longer merely facilitating attackers' activities, but in some cases the AI systems belonging to victim organizations have also been turned into tools for carrying out attacks.
According to the report, 44 percent of the organizations surveyed stated that cyberattackers had abused those organizations' own AI systems.
Ransomware threats beyond the digital space
One of the most concerning findings of the report is the extension of the consequences of ransomware attacks into the personal lives of employees and their families.
More than one-third of the victims surveyed reported facing psychological or physical threats during ransomware attacks; an issue that shows attackers' pressure is no longer limited to encrypting data or demanding money.
According to ITNA citing CBS News, about 14 percent of the organizations participating in the survey said that ongoing ransomware threats had forced employees or their family members to change jobs, workplaces, or even their place of residence.
Other statistics in the report also paint a worrying picture of the persistence of attacks. In total, 69 percent of victims surveyed were targeted by ransomware attacks more than once in the past year.
Also, 59 percent of participants said they had paid a ransom at least once to end an attack or respond to attackers' demands.
On the other hand, 87 percent of the organizations surveyed were targeted by attacks that aimed at the digital infrastructure responsible for controlling access to their networks.
Artificial intelligence; a turning point in cybercriminal capability
Chris Inglis, former White House National Cyber Director during the Joe Biden administration, believes that artificial intelligence has created a turning point in cybercriminals' capabilities.
He warned that another significant transformation is also taking shape: the emergence of autonomous and self-driving ransomware attacks that can be carried out with greater reliance on artificial intelligence.
According to Inglis, a person who does not have the technical knowledge to penetrate an organization's network can now ask AI to generate the code needed to carry out the attack.
In such circumstances, an attacker can use an AI system to target an organization and hold its data hostage for extortion, even without precise knowledge of the company's digital infrastructure.
Inglis emphasized that access to AI has become so easy that even less capable models can provide such capabilities to users.
He believes this technology doubles the number of criminals capable of executing more technically complex attacks. At the same time, experienced attackers can use AI to infiltrate networks more efficiently and at a far greater scale.
The results of this review show that, alongside the expanding use of artificial intelligence in ransomware attacks, the consequences of these attacks have gone beyond digital damages and affected the personal security and family lives of victims.