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Cyberattacks can reach critical stages in 22 seconds thanks to AI - Department Head

Nadir Novruzov, Head of Department at the State Service for Special Communication and Information Security

20 October 2026 11:01 (UTC +04:00)

The development of artificial intelligence technologies has significantly increased the speed of cyberattacks, with some stages of attacks now being carried out within seconds, Nadir Novruzov, Head of Department at the State Service for Special Communication and Information Security, said at the 8th Summit of Information Security Leaders held in Baku, APA-Economics reports.

According to him, the average time from the initial intrusion into information systems to the transfer of data to the attacker for encryption has decreased to 22 seconds.

Nadir Novruzov stated that the shortest time required for an attack to spread within a network after an intrusion is 27 seconds, while the time from initial access to the start of data exfiltration is four minutes.

He noted that the average time cybercriminals need to move within a network and expand an attack has fallen to 29 minutes. This is 65% faster compared to 2024.

According to the department head, one of the main problems is that cyberattacks are now being carried out through automated systems.

"Thanks to artificial intelligence, attacks have become extremely fast. Even 22 seconds is a very short time to respond to such attacks. The problem is that attacks have been automated, but preventing them still depends on human decision-making," Nadir Novruzov emphasized.

He added that this situation makes it difficult to respond to cyber threats in a timely manner and prevent attacks.