AI Attacks Are on the Rise: Here’s What You Can Do

Whether you’re for or against it, AI has changed the way many people work, search and create. Unfortunately, the good guys aren’t the only ones taking advantage of it.

Website attacks are becoming increasingly automated, allowing cyber criminals to find vulnerabilities and target sites faster and on a much bigger scale.

And if you’re thinking, “Why would anyone bother attacking my website?”, we’ve got some bad news. They don’t necessarily need to know who you are. AI makes it easy to commit mass breaches.

In this month’s article, we look into what’s changed, where AI comes into it, and what you can do to keep your website protected.

Website Attacks Are Getting Faster

Rather than somebody sitting behind a computer and carefully choosing their next target, many website attacks are automated. Bots can scan huge numbers of websites, looking for known vulnerabilities and weak spots — and they can do it all much faster than humans.

The numbers are pretty eye-opening. According to Patchstack’s State of WordPress Security in 2026 report:

• 11,334 new WordPress vulnerabilities were found in 2025
• That’s a 42% increase compared to 2024
• 17% were considered high risk for mass-scale exploitation
• For heavily exploited vulnerabilities, the median time between disclosure and mass exploitation was just five hours!

Five hours doesn’t leave much room for “I’ll sort that update next week”! Website owners need to be on top of their security to stay ahead of bad AI actors.

Read one of our previous dives into website attacks and security here.

Your Website Doesn’t Need to Be a Big Target

One of the biggest misconceptions about website security is that hackers are only interested in large businesses. This isn’t quite true. Automated attacks have changed that.

If software is scanning thousands of websites looking for a particular vulnerability, it doesn’t care whether you’re running an international ecommerce business or a small local company. If there’s a way in, your website can become a target.

That makes keeping your website secure less about flying under the radar and more about making sure there isn’t an easy way through the door. Even if you’re a small or niche business, you need to invest in a better lock!

Plugins and Themes Need Looking After

WordPress itself isn’t necessarily where the biggest risks lie. Patchstack found that the vast majority of new WordPress vulnerabilities in 2025 were associated with third-party plugins and themes.

Plugins are what make WordPress websites so useful, from contact forms to ecommerce functionality. But they’re also pieces of software, and software needs looking after to prevent it from becoming a risk in itself.

For example, updates can contain important security fixes, which is why clicking “remind me later” indefinitely isn’t the best website maintenance strategy. Similarly, regular malware scans can highlight issues and flag any plugins that aren’t working with your interests in mind.

A Little Website Upkeep Goes a Long Way

The good news is that website security doesn’t need to become another full-time job or extravagant expense. Regular updates, vulnerability monitoring, backups and activity checks can all help catch problems early and reduce the chances of something going wrong, and you can tack them onto your marketing strategy.

That’s exactly what Re:View Care Plans are designed to do. We keep an eye on your website, take care of essential updates and monitor for potential problems, all without you having to remember what needs doing and when.

Want some help keeping your website protected? Give the team a bell and let’s have a chat. Contact us now.