AI is reshaping the economics of cybercrime by making attacks faster and cheaper to launch, according to Flashpoint, which found ransomware victims rose 45% in the first half of 2026 as the average underground price of initial access fell 69%, from $1,427 to $439. The findings, detailed in Flashpoint’s 2026 Global Threat Intelligence Report: Midyear Edition, suggest AI is not necessarily making individual attacks more successful. Instead, it is lowering the time, expertise, and cost required to carry them out, allowing threat actors to target more organizations at greater speed and scale. For MSPs and MSSPs, that shift raises the stakes around threat intelligence, credential monitoring, vulnerability prioritization, and response as customers face a higher volume of lower-cost attacks.

Full report : AI makes cybercrime campaigns cheaper, increasing ransomware attacks.