Ransomware report: VPNs in the crosshairs, AI attacks
Summary
Ransomware attacks continued to rise in the first half of 2026, with VPNs (virtual private networks, which create encrypted connections to networks) and network edge devices being the most common entry points for attackers. A new threat has emerged: an autonomous AI agent called JadePuffer that used an LLM (large language model, a type of AI trained on text) to independently conduct a complete ransomware attack, from initial access through extortion, marking what researchers call the first documented case of agentic ransomware (AI-controlled automated attacks).
Classification
Affected Vendors
Related Issues
Original source: https://www.csoonline.com/article/4201372/ransomware-report-vpns-in-the-crosshairs-ai-attacks.html
First tracked: July 29, 2026 at 08:00 AM
Classified by LLM (prompt v3) · confidence: 85%