Nearly 37,000 software security flaws were reported in the third quarter of 2026, roughly triple the number a year earlier, according to the CVE list. Executives told Reuters that AI is accelerating the wave, and some firms are adding AI-powered security tools to ease the load on IT staff.
On October 21, two AI-discovered PHP flaws were disclosed, and governments and companies took websites offline as a precaution. Cloudflare said exploit attempts rose from thousands to millions within hours. Ahold Delhize has been hit by two hacks in a month; the first, in mid-October, caused more than €200 million ($225 million) in lost sales and a profit warning. Hackers also raised freezer temperatures at European supermarkets twice in three weeks, and Claroty researchers reproduced the underlying controller flaws for six dollars in 28 minutes.
Binance said it would invest more in AI-enhanced detection after a $6.3 billion crypto theft. McKinsey projects the cybersecurity market will grow from $223 billion in 2025 to $346 billion by 2029. Booking.com's Marnie Wilking called it a never-ending game of cat and mouse with very high stakes.