# 87% of security professionals report increase in AI-driven cyber attacks; preparedness gap remains

> A new State of AI Cybersecurity report from Darktrace finds that 87 percent of security professionals surveyed are seeing more AI-driven attacks, and that the volume and impact of those attacks are climbing. More striking is a specific figure buried in the data: 62 percent say they have already encountered deepfake social engineering or attempts to spoof voice and video biometrics. The techniques that sounded futuristic a couple of years ago are now something a majority of defenders have run into firsthand. The uncomfortable part is the gap between awareness and readiness. Even as nearly everyone reports rising AI-enabled threats, relatively few feel genuinely prepared to stop them. Attackers are using automation to scale phishing, impersonation and reconnaissance faster than defensive teams can retool. The report lands as regulators tighten the screws, with the EU AI Act's high-risk provisions now in force and steep fines already levied for mishandling data. Vendor surveys like this one always carry a hint of self-interest, but the underlying trend is hard to dismiss: AI is lowering the cost of convincing attacks at exactly the moment defenses are still catching up.

_Section: [Daily AI Updates](https://www.wortins.com/daily-ai) · Source: Darktrace · Published Tuesday, August 4, 2026_

## Wortins' read

A new State of AI Cybersecurity report from Darktrace finds that 87 percent of security professionals surveyed are seeing more AI-driven attacks, and that the volume and impact of those attacks are climbing. More striking is a specific figure buried in the data: 62 percent say they have already encountered deepfake social engineering or attempts to spoof voice and video biometrics. The techniques that sounded futuristic a couple of years ago are now something a majority of defenders have run into firsthand. The uncomfortable part is the gap between awareness and readiness. Even as nearly everyone reports rising AI-enabled threats, relatively few feel genuinely prepared to stop them. Attackers are using automation to scale phishing, impersonation and reconnaissance faster than defensive teams can retool. The report lands as regulators tighten the screws, with the EU AI Act's high-risk provisions now in force and steep fines already levied for mishandling data. Vendor surveys like this one always carry a hint of self-interest, but the underlying trend is hard to dismiss: AI is lowering the cost of convincing attacks at exactly the moment defenses are still catching up.

## Source

[Read the full story at Darktrace](https://www.darktrace.com/blog/state-of-ai-cybersecurity-2026-87-of-security-professionals-are-seeing-more-ai-driven-threats-but-few-feel-ready-to-stop-them)

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