Cybercriminals just got a serious upgrade — and most small and medium businesses haven’t noticed yet.
In April 2026, a new chapter in cybersecurity opened: AI isn’t just helping companies defend anymore. It’s helping attackers break in faster, smarter, and at a scale we’ve never seen.
Anthropic’s own research found its Mythos AI model could identify and exploit tens of thousands of software vulnerabilities — a capability so dangerous the company restricted the model and launched a major defensive initiative with Microsoft, Google, Amazon, and Nvidia. Meanwhile, OpenAI is quietly rolling out cyber-capable AI to select partners through its Trusted Access for Cyber program.
Translation: the tools hackers have access to are evolving faster than your firewall.
What’s Actually Happening Right Now
This isn’t theoretical. Microsoft confirmed a ransomware group called Storm-1175 is actively exploiting vulnerabilities — including one that was patched 14 years ago. That’s not a typo. Criminals are using old, unpatched holes to lock businesses out of their own systems right now.
CISA just ordered federal agencies to patch six actively exploited Microsoft flaws by April 27th — that’s a two-week window from today.
Beyond that: 108 malicious Google Chrome extensions compromised roughly 20,000 users. One wrong extension install and your team’s login credentials are gone.
The Gap Is Growing
A new PwC study found 75% of AI’s economic gains are captured by just 20% of companies. In cybersecurity, the same divide is happening. AI-aware businesses are using automation to lock things down. Everyone else is hoping their old antivirus is enough.
It’s not.
What You Should Do
You don’t need to understand the technology. You need a partner who does.
NSI Tech monitors your systems, applies patches proactively, and makes sure your team isn’t one bad browser extension away from a breach.
Talk to us today → — we’ll give your security posture an honest look, no sales pitch attached.