Report Warns AI Is Fueling Ransomware Attacks as Trump Pushes to Rebrand Technology as 'Super Intelligence'
Key Takeaways
- •President Trump's push to rename artificial intelligence "super intelligence" came just days before CBS News a report on cybercriminals using AI in ransomware attacks.
- •Semperis' 2026 Ransomware Risk Report polled 1,200 IT and security professionals across nine countries and eight industry sectors.
- •One-third of surveyed victims reported psychological or physical threats against employees, and 14% said employees or family members were forced to change jobs, relocate offices, or move homes.
- •Former White House National Cyber Director Chris Inglis said AI increases the capacity, scope, and scale of attackers in identifying system weaknesses and crafting sophisticated approaches.
- •Semperis executives warned that AI could accelerate ransomware development and complicate attribution for law enforcement, while companies' autonomous AI agents may introduce vulnerabilities and compromise identity systems.
Just days after President Donald Trump intensified his advocacy for artificial intelligence by pushing to rename the technology "super intelligence," CBS News published an alarming report detailing how cybercriminals are deploying AI in ransomware attacks.
Trump's rebranding push is part of a broader effort to cast the rapidly evolving technology in a more favorable light. Experts and lawmakers, however, have repeatedly raised alarms about AI's potential risks, citing serious security concerns for businesses, vulnerable individuals, and government agencies. The CBS News report appears to align with those warnings.
The findings come from the 2026 Ransomware Risk Report by cybersecurity firm Semperis. The survey polled 1,200 IT and security professionals across nine countries and eight industry sectors, revealing just how susceptible victims are to such attacks.
The results paint a grim picture that extends beyond the cyberattacks and their immediate aftermath. One-third of surveyed victims reported psychological or physical threats against employees, while 14% said employees or their family members were forced to change jobs, relocate offices, or move homes because of ransomware threats. More than half of respondents reported experiencing more than one successful attack.
Chris Inglis, who served as White House National Cyber Director under former President Joe Biden, believes AI amplifies these types of attacks, expanding their reach and potential impact.
"AI actually increases the capacity, scope, and scale of attackers in understanding what perhaps might be the weaknesses in your system or perhaps increases the sophistication of their approach to you if they're trying to get you to do something you shouldn't do, which gives them an advantage, lets them in," Inglis said in an interview about the report.
Ransomware attacks are not new, but AI appears to make access easier while complicating efforts to identify or convict perpetrators. Tomer Bar, Semperis' associate vice president of security research, warned that AI could help ransomware developers create more sophisticated malicious code, accelerate development, and hinder investigations.
"We're starting to see more attacks with more rapid development, and attribution of these attacks will be more difficult for law enforcement," Bar said in the report.
Companies are the biggest targets, and some of their own internal AI systems may be working against them. Courtney Guss, Semperis' associate vice president of crisis management, cautioned that autonomous AI agents can introduce security vulnerabilities and gain access to certain company information.
"If your company is adopting AI agents, you should consider that at some point, those agents will try to compromise your identity systems — even if that action isn't meant to be malicious," Guss wrote in the report.
