Artificial intelligence is allowing cyber attackers to operate faster while gaps in organizational monitoring leave some threats undetected for months or even years, cybersecurity firm Kaspersky said.
Speaking at the company’s Asia Pacific Cyber Security Weekend in Guangzhou, China, Kaspersky Asia-Pacific managing director Adrian Hia said enterprises are facing growing blind spots across their information technology and operational technology systems.
The conference, held under the theme “When Speed Outpaces Visibility,” focused on AI-assisted attacks, cyber sabotage against critical infrastructure, and increasingly sophisticated cyberespionage campaigns.
Kaspersky said it blocked about 500,000 unique malicious files daily in 2024, up 7% from the previous year.
The company’s incident-response data also showed that malicious activity had persisted for more than three months in 31% of the cases it analyzed.
More than half of high-severity breaches were discovered only after 90 days, while some intrusions reportedly remained undetected for as long as four years.
The figures point to a persistent gap between the speed of cyberattacks and the ability of organizations to identify suspicious activity across interconnected systems.
Kaspersky urged enterprises and government agencies to establish unified security operations centers capable of continuously monitoring IT and operational technology environments. It said a mature security operations center could reduce the time needed to identify and contain an intrusion.
The company said cybercriminals are increasingly using AI to automate and improve their attacks. Defenders, in turn, are combining machine learning with human analysis to process large volumes of security data and detect anomalous behavior.
Kaspersky said its Kaspersky Next product line uses machine learning and generative AI to analyze telemetry, convert security data into threat intelligence, and assist security teams managing complex IT environments.
