AI has made exploit writing cheap, so patching is now the bottleneck
AIAsaf Ezra argues that AI agents have made turning a vulnerability into a working exploit cheap and fast, shifting the bottleneck in offensive cyber to patching. He cites the August PaperCut campaign, which compromised 395 organizations in 48 countries, half of them schools, and Mandiant data showing average time from disclosure to attack falling from 63 days in 2018-19 to five in 2023.
AIWhy it matters.
The piece argues that AI has made exploit writing cheap, so patch speed, not exploit skill, now sets the defensive bottleneck, backed by a multi-year data series.
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a16z News · Asaf Ezra · a16z.newsPublished · added here
Original title: The Exploit Was the Bottleneck