ReliaQuest 2026 Annual Cyber Threat Report

The quickest data exfiltration attack in 2025 took just 6 minutes versus over 4 hours in 2024.

80% of ransomware groups use AI, automation, or both in their attacks.

BoaLoader malware is a factor in nearly 20% of incidents observed in the calendar year.

Threat actors utilizing AI and automation tools can achieve lateral movement within an organization in as little as 4 minutes, 85% faster than the previous year.

On average, lateral movement within an organization takes 34 minutes, 29% quicker than the 48 minutes recorded in 2024.

Organizations leveraging AI and automation can contain threats within 4 minutes versus up to 16 hours with manual efforts.