SANS: Top 5 Most Dangerous New Attack Techniques to Watch
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SANS Institute's annual top 5 most dangerous attack techniques at RSAC 2026 all share a common thread: AI. The five techniques covered are: (1) AI-generated zero-days now discoverable for as little as $116 in token costs, democratizing access previously reserved for nation-states; (2) software supply chain attacks affecting two-thirds of organizations, with AI amplifying risk across vendor ecosystems; (3) OT visibility gaps leaving critical infrastructure compromises unattributable; (4) irresponsible AI use in digital forensics and incident response, where overconfident AI verdicts can derail investigations; and (5) AI-driven attacks moving 47x faster than human-powered ones, prompting SANS to launch Protocol SIFT, an open-source AI-assisted defense initiative that compresses investigation timelines dramatically while keeping humans in the decision-making loop.
Table of contents
Attack Technique #1: AI-Generated Zero Days, From Scarcity to SurplusAttack Technique #2: Supply Chain Risks, Your Vendor's Vendor's VendorAttack Technique #3: OT Complexity & Root Cause CrisisAttack Technique #4: The Dark Side of AI, Irresponsible Use in Digital Forensics & Incident ResponseAttack Technique #5: Find Evil: The Race to Autonomous DefenseSort: