AI-driven Exploitation: Top Initial Access Strategy

Cybercriminals are now primarily using vulnerability exploitation to gain initial access in cyber attacks. This strategy has surpassed social engineering, like phishing, as the most popular method. A new report from cybersecurity firm Rapid7 found that vulnerability exploitation accounted for 38% of incident response cases in the first quarter of 2026. Social engineering was at 24%, and compromised accounts at 14%. This shift suggests a growing role for artificial intelligence in attack techniques. AI helps threat actors quickly identify and weaponize vulnerabilities. Many of these exploited vulnerabilities are zero-click and network-facing, meaning they require no user interaction. This allows attackers to compromise systems directly. The time between a vulnerability's public disclosure and its exploitation is also shrinking. For high and critical severity flaws, this period dropped from 8.5 days to just five. SQL injection has also overtaken OS command injection as the most exploited vulnerability type. This trend means organizations must quickly patch and secure their internet-facing systems to stay ahead of evolving threats.