INTEL-24: Breadth, Not Depth

Mon, 29 Jun 2026 00:00:00 +0000

The INTEL

Generative AI is not unlocking novel attacks. It is scaling the ones we already know. The 2026 DBIR studied 793 unique threat actors using AI — and fewer than 1% reached a high or critical capability tier. AI today is a breadth multiplier, not a depth multiplier.

When Verizon, working with Anthropic, examined how attackers actually use AI, the picture was not the super-attacker of the hype cycle. The median attacker applied AI across roughly 15 well-documented techniques — some reached 40-50 — each backed by a median of 55 already-known malware examples. Fewer than 2.5% of the observed techniques were genuinely rare. The story is volume and velocity over well-trodden ground, not a leap into the unknown.

Detection Engineering on FIR Risk Advisory | Risk Intelligence. Engineered.

INTEL-24: Breadth, Not Depth

The INTEL