- Nearly two-thirds of companies assess AI risks before implementing tools, compared to last year
- Companies are also turning to AI to respond to threats
- Phishing is still on top, but AI is accelerating it
The World Economic Forum (WEF) has discovered a positive trend in the world of AI: companies are finally taking action to address AI security risks, as nearly two in three (64%) are now assessing risks before deploying tools (up from 37% last year).
When it comes to their cybersecurity strategies as a whole, almost everyone (94%) agrees that AI tools will be the biggest driver of change in 2026.
This comes from the 2026 version of the Global Cybersecurity Outlook, published in collaboration with Accenture.
AI and cybersecurity strategies are finally developing hand in hand
The reported changes in attitude are likely due to the fact that 87% believe that AI-related vulnerabilities have increased. Data breaches (34%) are CEOs’ biggest concerns, technical security of AI systems saw the biggest increase (13% in 2026 vs. 5% in 2025), and advancement of adversarial capabilities saw the biggest drop (29% in 2026 vs. 47% in 2025) despite being the second biggest concern.
Today, about two-thirds (64%) of organizations are considering geopolitically motivated attacks, and many are moving toward sovereign cloud options. Still, there are differences in how top management perceives AI threats. CEOs now cite fraud and AI vulnerabilities as their biggest concerns, but CISOs are more concerned about ransomware and supply chain disruptions. Both types of leaders indicated that exploiting software vulnerabilities was their third biggest concern.
Despite widespread agreement that AI-based threats have increased, companies are still turning to AI to respond. Three-quarters (77%) now use AI for cybersecurity, with the most common applications being phishing detection (52%), intrusion detection (46%) and security operations automation (43%).
On the other hand, lack of skills (54%), the need for human validation (41%) and uncertainty about risks (39%) are the main barriers to the use of AI in cybersecurity.
Looking ahead, the WEF believes that phishing, deepfake scams and automated social engineering will become the biggest AI-enabled threats. But while AI might be speeding them up, the most common attack method is still phishing, something that hasn’t fundamentally changed in a long time.
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