Get ready for 2026, the year of AI-aided ransomware

Cybercriminals, including ransomware crews, will lean more heavily on agentic AI next year as attackers automate more of their operations, Trend Micro's researchers believe.

The prediction comes hot on the heels of Anthropic publishing a report – disputed by some –  claiming it saw the first example of agentic AI being used to orchestrate a cyberattack by a Chinese state-sponsored team.

Ryan Flores, Trend's lead for data and technology research, said the rise of agentic AI technology is "something that we are very wary about," and that state-sponsored groups will lead the way in innovating on it before cybercriminals start using it for themselves.

According to the security shop's intelligence, there are no signs that cybercriminals are using agentic AI in attacks right now, since it's often the state-sponsored groups that lead early adoption of technologies, but once the technology proves to be successful and scalable, that's ...