Victims say artificial intelligence was weaponized in the vast majority of recent ransomware attacks on their organizations, according to a new survey.
In its 2026 Ransomware Risk Report, cybersecurity company Semperis says found AI was involved in 84% of the incidents experienced by the IT and security professionals polled across nine countries.
The survey, limited to organizations hit by ransomware in the past year, also showed 40% of attacks included psychological or physical threats against employees and their families, with attackers following through in 53% of those cases.
Identity systems were targeted in 87% of the incidents, while nearly 70% of victims faced multiple attacks and 31% made multiple ransom payments.
Says Chris Inglis, a former U.S. national cyber director and Semperis strategic adviser,
“Holding you at physical risk is the latest phenomenon because we’ve covered most of the other risks.”
Says Mickey Bresman, Semperis CEO,
“The bad guys are always evolving their tactics. When the initial wave of ransomware attacks began, most focused on data encryption. Then, after data backup and recovery systems started gaining traction and enabling companies to resist ransom demands, we saw the double extortion: encryption coupled with data theft and threats to expose or sell that data. So, it makes sense that we’ll continue to see attackers trying to find more ways to make victims pay.”
Semperis is an identity-driven cyber resilience and crisis response company.
