“The attackers are winning”: Cyber 60 founders say AI is giving hackers the upper hand

In the rapidly evolving world of cybersecurity, attackers appear to be gaining the upper hand, according to Evan Peña, cofounder and chief offensive security officer at Armadin. During a recent Fortune, Lightspeed, and AWS’s Cyber 60 event, Peña highlighted a series of high-profile cyber vulnerabilities, including attacks on Citrix, BeyondTrust, PHP, and Node.js within just a few weeks.

He emphasized the unprecedented speed at which these threats emerge, noting that AI-powered attackers can now scan the entire external attack surface of a Fortune 500 company—over 10,000 externally facing systems—in hours, something that would take human efforts years to accomplish.

Lior Div, cofounder and CEO of 7AI, echoed these concerns on a different panel. Div highlighted the shrinking gap between cybersecurity events, indicating that the pace of new threats is accelerating. "The gap between events is going to shrink and shrink and shrink," he stated. This rapid escalation is part of a larger trend, with yesterday's event marking the release of the 2027 Cyber 60, a list of the most innovative cybersecurity startups.

Companies such as Chainguard, Irregular, and Jazz were among those recognized for their innovative approaches to cybersecurity.

The consensus among cybersecurity leaders was clear: attackers have no barriers to overcome. Nick Schneider, CEO of cybersecurity unicorn Arctic Wolf, pointed out that many organizations struggle to adapt at the speed of these threats due to rigid change control processes, budget constraints, and resistance from boards and teams. This lack of agility means that attackers can execute attacks en masse without significant repercussions, constantly moving on to new targets.

Lior Div emphasized the vulnerability of the digital world, asserting that "everything is vulnerable and you can hack everything." The notion of an impenetrable perimeter has become obsolete. Cybersecurity expert Div concluded that "we’re living in a very vulnerable world," underscoring that the ongoing battle against cyber threats requires significant and sustained effort.