Cyber Attacks Remain a Third Higher Than Last Year as AI-Powered Extortion Group Breaks into the Top Three

Résumé détaillé

Education stays at the top of attackers’ target list, risky GenAI use and ransomware keep growing, with a new extortion group making use of AI tooling to climb to top 3

Education stays at the top of attackers’ target list, risky GenAI use and ransomware keep growing, with a new extortion group making use of AI tooling to climb to top 3

Check Point Research, the threat intelligence arm of Check Point® Software Technologies Ltd., today published its latest Global Threat Intelligence findings, covering October 2026. During the month, the average organisation globally faced 2,550 cyber attacks every week, which is 9% fewer than in September but 32% more than in October 2025. In Australia, the average organisation faced 2,117 cyber attacks every week in October, which is 9% fewer than in September but 39% more than in October 2025. In New Zealand, the average organisation faced 1,913 attacks every week in October, which is 7% fewer than in September but 16 per cent more than in October 2025.

The picture is mixed: attack volumes and phishing both eased compared with the previous month, yet risky GenAI prompts kept rising, a record 1,063 ransomware attacks globally were publicly reported, and a new ransomware group broke into the top three with extensive use of AI tooling.

“A lower monthly figure should not be mistaken for a lower level of risk, as attacks are still running about a third above where they were a year ago,” said Omer Dembinsky, Data Research Manager at Check Point Research. “Every region is seeing more attacks than in 2025, employees are sharing sensitive data with GenAI tools at a growing rate, and ransomware groups are building AI into their operations. Defenders need to prevent attacks earlier, with AI-powered protection and shared intelligence working together across networks, cloud, email, endpoints and AI services.”

No sector faced more attacks than Education, where each organisation was hit 5,934 times a week on average, 33% more than a year earlier. Schools, universities and research bodies tend to have large user populations and open, widely accessible networks, which probably explains the gap.

By region, Africa had…

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