AI agents cut exploit time to hours, but patching remains the bottleneck, 23 years of data show

Analysis by a16z's Asaf Ezra and Steph Zhang argues AI agents have collapsed exploit development from roughly a skilled person's month to hours, while patching times stagnate. Mandiant data shows average time from disclosure to attack fell from 63 days (2018-19) to five in 2023, and by 2025 attacks preceded disclosure by seven days. Verizon's 2026 DBIR puts median fix time at 43 days. The authors expect outbreaks resembling WannaCry, not catastrophe, since grid attacks require more than access and defenses improved during past scares.

✨ AI summary of the linked source — not editorial content.

Explore the topic

• Cybersecurity
• Exploit
• AI Agents
• AI