Penetration Testing Services Cloud Pentesting Penetration Network Pentesting Application Pentesting Web Application Pentesting Social Engineering February 23, 2026 On this page Adversarial Exposure Validation: Using AI to Counter Adversarial AI and Defensive AI Threats In 2025, 88% of organizations used AI in at least one business function, a full 10% increase from just a year ago.1 Also, worldwide AI spending is forecast to total a whopping $2.52 trillion in 2026 – a 44% year-over-year increase.2 It’s clear that organizations recognize that AI has the potential to reshape business models and drive growth. Unfortunately, cybercriminals, hackers, and other online adversaries also seem to have similarly optimistic views about AI’s power and potential. Increasingly, many threat actors are investing in agentic and generative AI tools to successfully execute a wide range of cyberattacks against organizations at extraordinary speeds and near-unlimited scale.From writing malicious emails and generating novel strains of malware to creating highly realistic audio and video deepfakes, attackers are now weaponizing AI in increasing numbers and at a higher frequency. Not to mention, they’re also attacking AI systems and models themselves. In this complex threat landscape, where both attacks on AI and attacks using AI are increasing, defenders also have a very useful tool at their disposal – AI. By leveraging powerful, AI-enabled techniques like Adversarial Exposure Validation, defenders can proactively detect and stop attacks in practice – and defeat adversaries at their own game. AI and the Cyberthreat Landscape: Offensive AI and Adversarial AI According to a recent study, 53% of senior leaders now rank “AI cyber threats” as one of the top three risks to their organizations.3 And with good reason: it is estimated that 59% of companies experienced at least one successful AI-powered cyberattack in 2025. The use of AI as a weapon is known as Offensive AI. It allows cyberattackers to execute many kinds of devastating cyberattacks, including phishing, social engineering, malware, and deepfakes, faster, more frequently, and more scalably than ever before. AI can also be used in Adversarial mode, where AI is not the weapon, but the target. It involves the use of techniques like model data poisoning, model inversion attacks, and prompt injections to trick or manipulate AI systems and models into behaving in unintended ways. According to one IBM report, at least 13% of AI-related breaches in 2025 involved attacks on AI models or applications. In a majority of cases, these attacks led to data compromise (60%) or operational disruptions (31%).4 Both offensive AI and adversarial AI are serious business concerns, and reiterate the need for organizations to recalibrate and strengthen their defenses. Here’s where AI itself can come to the rescue, in the form of AI-enabled techniques like AEV. Using AI for Defense: The Power of Defensive AI Today, enterprise defenders can take advantage of AI techniques and tools to spot anomalies and take proactive action against malware, ransomware, phishing scams, or zero-day intrusions. AI tools can automatically block malicious activities or actors to prevent unauthorized access or compromise, and isolate affected systems to minimize the extent of possible damage. AI can also automatically trigger alerts to help defenders proactively analyze, respond to, and remediate threats. Defensive AI can also help to safeguard organizations and their assets by: Continuously monitoring networks, endpoints, applications, workloads, and users Detecting and responding to threats in real time Analyzing exposures, exploitability, and potential impact to help with vulnerability management and prioritization Learning from past incidents to anticipate and prevent future attacks In short, defensive AI provides an effective countermeasure to AI-driven cyber threats. Adversarial Exposure Validation for Stronger Defensive AI Research shows that using AI in security can shorten breach times by up to 80 days. It can also lower average breach costs by as much as $1.9 million compared to organizations that don’t invest in defensive AI.4 One of the most effective Defensive AI techniques is Adversarial Exposure Validation.AEV is a scalable, effective, agentic AI-powered approach to enterprise security testing/validation. AEV continuously tests the strength of security defenses against real-world attacker behaviors. It automatically executes complex, multi-step attack scenarios across multiple threat vectors, dynamically alters attackers’ TTPs, and generates evasive payloads. These simulations expose defense gaps that, if left unaddressed, may allow actual adversaries to reach business-critical assets and data. Advanced AEV platforms leverage AI to first discover and map the external attack surface, providing a data-driven foundation for every simulation. From there, security teams can guide the AI using MITRE ATT&CK™ logic to autonomously execute approved exploits. By simulating real-world tactics, such as escalating privileges and pivoting across the network, these platforms provide greater clarity into real and exploitable security gaps. Finally, AEV strings together viable attack paths that demonstrate exactly where defenses did or did not prove resilient against a simulated attack. These insights give security teams the technical context needed to simplify risk analysis, prioritization, and mitigation. Additionally, practical recommendations, rooted in attacker logic rather than just static CVSS scores, guide defenders to: Prioritize risks based on exploitability and business impact Move quickly from detection to mitigation Make proactive, timely, threat-informed changes to strengthen enterprise defenses Continuously manage an expanding attack surface Confidently Face AI Threats with BreachLock’s Agentic AI-Powered AEV BreachLock AEV is an agentic AI-powered autonomous penetration testing and red teaming platform. It launches real-world attacks in seconds so you can understand which exposures exist and, more importantly, which ones are truly exploitable. With these contextualized insights, you gain a clear understanding of how vulnerabilities can be chained together to compromise your environment in a real-world attack. Built for your unique attack surface, BreachLock AEV helps you remediate the risks that matter most to your business—proactively, continuously, and quickly. Move beyond theoretical scans to mitigate proven risk. Contact us today to learn more. About BreachLock BreachLock is a global leader in offensive security, delivering scalable and continuous security testing. Trusted by global enterprises, BreachLock provides human-led and AI-powered Attack Surface Management, Penetration Testing as a Service (PTaaS), Red Teaming, and Adversarial Exposure Validation (AEV) solutions that help security teams stay ahead of adversaries. With a mission to make proactive security the new standard, BreachLock is shaping the future of cybersecurity through automation, data-driven intelligence, and expert-driven execution. References McKinsey (2025). The state of AI in 2025: Agents, innovation, and transformation. https://www.mckinsey.com/capabilities/quantumblack/our-insights/the-state-of-ai Gartner (2026). Worldwide AI Spending Will Total $2.5 Trillion in 2026. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2026-1-15-gartner-says-worldwide-ai-spending-will-total-2-point-5-trillion-dollars-in-2026 BCG (2025). AI-Driven Cyber Threats Are Outpacing Defense Capabilities. https://www.bcg.com/press/18december2025-ai-cyber-threats-outpacing-defense-capabilities IBM (2025). Cost of a Data Breach Report 2025. https://www.bakerdonelson.com/webfiles/Publications/20250822_Cost-of-a-Data-Breach-Report-2025.pdf Author BreachLock Labs Industry recognitions we have earned Tell us about your requirements and we will respond within 24 hours. Fill out the form below to let us know your requirements. We will contact you to determine if BreachLock is right for your business or organization.