AI-written exploits shift cyber risk to slow patching, Asaf Ezra argues
Overview
Asaf Ezra argues in a16z News that AI agents have made turning a vulnerability into a working exploit cheap and fast, so the main bottleneck in offensive cyber is now patching.
He cites the August PaperCut campaign, which compromised 395 organizations in 48 countries, half of them schools. He also cites Mandiant data showing the average time from disclosure to attack fell from 63 days in 2018-19 to five days in 2023.
Ezra expects future outbreaks to hit hard-to-update systems rather than cause a collapse of the power grid or the internet.
Written by AI from the articles below · updated Nov 5, 10:10 AM ET
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- a16z NewsBlogPickAI 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. He expects outbreaks hitting hard-to-update systems rather than a grid or internet collapse.
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