AI-POWERED attacks on apps are accelerating, with Digital[.]ai’s 2026 App Security Threat Report noting that the gap between emerging and primary targets has collapsed as attackers deploy agentic AI to speed up reverse engineering, exploit generation and dynamic analysis. The firm reports the proportion of client-facing apps monitored under attack rising from 55% in 2022 to 87% in 2026, and that the window between app publication and first hostile contact now measures in hours rather than days.
It also observes that the security gap between iOS and Android has closed, with iOS apps facing 97% of the Android attack rate in 2026, up from half in 2023. The analysis highlights converging attack rates across four verticals during 2025–2026, with automotive and medical device apps showing the steepest increases, the latter up by eight percentage points.
According to Digital[.]ai, defenders must adopt agentic AI to counter the attackers’ use of agentic AI, as the same technology used to build an app can be used to attack it within hours of availability. Published on 20 May 2026, the piece argues that waiting is no longer a strategy and that every target should be treated as primary.