Agentic AI and Ransomware: How Autonomous Agents Are Reshaping Cybersecurity Threats

A new generation of artificial intelligence—known as agentic AI—is emerging, and it promises to fundamentally change how technology is used. Unlike generative AI, which mainly responds to prompts, agentic AI operates independently, solving complex problems and making decisions without direct human input. While this leap in autonomy brings major benefits for businesses, it also introduces serious risks, especially in the realm of cybersecurity.

Security experts warn that agentic AI could significantly enhance the capabilities of ransomware groups. 

These autonomous agents can analyze, plan, and execute tasks on their own, making them ideal tools for attackers seeking to automate and scale their operations. As agentic AI evolves, it is poised to alter the cyber threat landscape, potentially enabling more efficient and harder-to-detect ransomware attacks.

In contrast to the early concerns raised in 2022 with the launch of tools like ChatGPT, which mainly helped attackers draft phishing emails or debug malicious code, agentic AI can operate in real time and adapt to complex environments. This allows cybercriminals to offload traditionally manual processes like lateral movement, system enumeration, and target prioritization. 

Currently, ransomware operators often rely on Initial Access Brokers (IABs) to breach networks, then spend time manually navigating internal systems to deploy malware. This process is labor-intensive and prone to error, often leading to incomplete or failed attacks. Agentic AI, however, removes many of t

[…]
Content was cut in order to protect the source.Please visit the source for the rest of the article.