CrowdStrike Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:CRWD) released its 2026 Global Threat Report on Tuesday, painting an alarming picture of an adversary landscape supercharged by artificial intelligence.
The report, built on intelligence from CrowdStrike’s threat hunters and analysts tracking more than 280 named adversaries, reveals that AI is no longer just a defensive tool — it has become the primary weapon of choice for cybercriminals and nation-state actors alike.
Breakout Times Hit Record Lows
The headline number is stark. The average eCrime breakout time — the window between initial access and lateral movement — collapsed to just 29 minutes in 2025, a 65% acceleration from 2024 levels. The fastest recorded intrusion occurred in a breathtaking 27 seconds.
In one documented case, data exfiltration began within four minutes of initial access, leaving defenders almost no time to respond.
“This is an AI arms race,” said Adam Meyers, head of counter-adversary operations at CrowdStrike.
“Breakout time is the clearest signal of how intrusion has changed. Adversaries are moving from initial access to lateral movement in minutes. AI is compressing the time between intent and execution while turning enterprise AI systems into targets. Security teams must operate faster than the adversary to win.”
Market Context: A Sector Under Pressure
The report arrives as CrowdStrike navigates a turbulent stretch. The stock is down roughly 22.76% year-to-date, and has been caught in a broader SaaS and cybersecurity selloff triggered in part by Anthropic’s unveiling of Claude Code Security last week.
Analyst Take
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives called the sector fears a “huge disconnected overhang,” arguing cybersecurity remains “the next frontier for the AI Revolution” and that CRWD, Palo Alto Networks Inc. (NASDAQ:PANW) and Zscaler Inc. (NASDAQ:ZS) stand as primary beneficiaries of AI’s expanding role in security.
On Monday, Anthropic disclosed that three Chinese AI laboratories, DeepSeek, Moonshot AI and MiniMax, had used approximately 24,000 fraudulent accounts to run what Anthropic’s head of threat intelligence Jacob Klein called “distillation attacks at scale,” generating over 16 million exchanges with Claude to siphon its most advanced capabilities.
Price Action: CRWD is edging up 0.44% to $351.86 in Tuesday’s premarket session after tumbling 9.85% in Monday’s regular trading, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Photo: IgorGolovniov / Shutterstock
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