AI accelerates lateral movement in cyberattacks

AI is dramatically speeding up key stages of a cyberattack, according to ReliaQuest’s latest report.

Thanks to automation, adversaries can begin moving laterally across a victim network within as little as four minutes, an 85% drop from the fastest-observed lateral movement in 2024. The average amount of time it took hackers to move laterally in a victim’s network dropped 29%, from 48 minutes in 2024 to 34 minutes in 2025. 

Data exfiltration is also speeding up, with the fastest attack taking roughly six minutes — a dramatic decline from more than four hours in 2024. AI and automation have played an important role in that evolution, with ReliaQuest finding that 80% of ransomware groups are now using one or both technologies, including for stealing data.

Read more at Cybersecurity Dive