From hacked supermarket fridges and a record cryptocurrency theft at Binance to an emergency over flaws in widely used web software, companies worldwide are facing a wave of cyberthreats that executives say AI is accelerating and making more sophisticated.
The surge is straining IT departments, with staff working overnight to patch software vulnerabilities, and is prompting some companies to invest more in AI-powered security tools to help manage the workload.
A cyberattack on European supermarkets on Monday underscored the urgency. It was the second in three weeks in which hackers raised refrigerator and freezer temperatures, forcing retailers to discard millions of dollars’ worth of spoiled food.
“It’s a never-ending game of cat and mouse, with very high stakes,” said Marnie Wilking, chief security officer at travel platform Booking.com. “We shut down one route, and before we’ve even finished rolling out the fix, the bad guys have moved on to the next,” she said, adding that hundreds of engineers at the company were now building AI-powered defence systems.
We’re seeing events of a magnitude every week, or even every couple of days, that used to be months apart.
Markus Noga, Ionos
Nearly 37 000 security flaws in software or computer systems were reported in the third quarter of 2026, triple the number a year earlier, according to the Common Vulnerabilities and Exposures list, an international registry of disclosed security flaws.
“We’re seeing events of a magnitude every week, or even every couple of days, that used to be months apart,” said Markus Noga, CTO of German web hosting company Ionos, which serves seven million customers.
Ionos said it changed its security practices after seeing a spike in vulnerabilities in July, deploying AI-based monitoring systems to scan for threats and using AI-assisted tools to install patches on its systems around the clock.
“I’m kind of limited to what a nine-to-five office hours team can do, and that’s no longer good enough,” Noga said.
Cyberthreats drive defensive spending
Binance, hit by hackers who stole US$6.3-billion worth of cryptocurrency, said it would increase investment in AI-enhanced detection systems. The Port of Rotterdam is working on an AI-powered “cyber shield”, while Siemens is testing advanced AI models for defensive security.
Dutch-based grocer Ahold Delhaize, which operates the Stop & Shop and Giant Food chains in the US, was hit by two hacks in the past month. The first, in mid-October, led to more than €200-million in lost sales and prompted a profit warning.
In that incident, Ahold took its websites and apps offline for a week after detecting an intrusion. This week, some of its stores in Belgium and Luxembourg were among those hit by cyberattacks on refrigerators across a dozen European countries.
“We’re adjusting to a new reality,” CFO Jolanda Poots-Bijl said, adding that smaller firms were particularly exposed. At the same time, AI is a defensive tool, she said. “AI also helps us to detect and to restore in a much faster way than we were ever able to do in the past,” she added.
McKinsey projects that the global market for cybersecurity products and services sold by outside vendors will grow from $223-billion in 2025 to $346-billion by 2029.
The refrigerator attacks show how AI is putting pressure on companies to patch systems quickly once a vulnerability is found, said Sean Tufts, field CTO at cybersecurity firm Claroty. Claroty published research in August, months before the attacks began, outlining weaknesses in refrigeration controllers.
After a first wave of attacks hit stores in France on 11 October, Claroty researchers used widely available AI tools to reproduce the flaws and take control of a test device, highlighting the risk of further attacks. “We were able to recreate it for $6 and 28 minutes,” Tufts said.
The 21 October disclosure of two AI-discovered flaws in the PHP programming language, which underpins many websites, prompted governments and companies from Tokyo to Helsinki to take websites offline as a precaution. In South Africa, the presidency took its website offline two days later “as a precautionary measure in response to a global cybersecurity event”, though it did not name PHP.
We need to get smarter. Both sides are heavily equipped,” Kindler said. “Both sides use AI, and that race is continuing.
Steffen Kindler, Holcim
US internet infrastructure firm Cloudflare reported that attempts to exploit the PHP flaws rose from thousands to millions within hours of their disclosure. AI-discovered bugs could lead to more disruption in future, it said.
“The threat is real, it’s growing,” said Kraft Heinz CEO Steve Cahillane, adding that cybersecurity was “more important today than it was yesterday and will be even more important tomorrow”.
Holcim CFO Steffen Kindler echoed those comments. The Swiss building materials maker took its website offline at about 9.30pm on 21 October to install PHP fixes, and restored service before midnight. “We need to get smarter. Both sides are heavily equipped,” Kindler said. “Both sides use AI, and that race is continuing.” — Toby Sterling, Dimitri Rhodes, Hakan Ersen and John Revill, with Alexander Marrow, (c) 2026 Reuters, with additional reporting (c) 2026 NewsCentral Media
