KasadaIQ - Considerations for Defenders
Q2 2026 Update
Threat Intelligence Report
An AI model beat a commercial licensing system in under five hours, for $3.88. KasadaIQ's Q2 2026 report breaks down what's driving that cost down — and what security and fraud teams need to do about it.
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AI went from adversary experiment to adversary infrastructure in Q2.
11.7M+
stolen accounts for sale on criminal marketplaces, from 6K sellers
20.9K+
checkouts completed by bots instead of real shoppers, across 32+ brands
11.3M+
site visits from just 2 AI companies scraping content, in a single month
AI Re-Equipped the Adversary. It Didn't Create a New One.
Of 27 predictions KasadaIQ tracked for 2026, nine moved this quarter and none were refuted, clustering around AI adoption, credential markets, and bot economics. The clearest signal: an AI model cracked a commercial licensing system in under five hours, for $3.88.
The How, Not the Who or Why
AI moved the tooling layer, not the population, motivation and rationalization are unchanged, only capability has shifted.
The Barrier to Entry Is Financial, Not Technical
94% of operators rent capability rather than build it, and a newcomer can be fully operational for $400–$500.
Major Events Are Lures, Not Sources
World Cup fraud tracked the ticketing calendar, not the match schedule, the same tradecraft just redirects to the next big event.
KasadaIQ - Considerations for Defenders
Prioritize the human-plus-AI risk surface, the immediate threat is humans re-tooling with AI at speed.
KasadaIQ - Considerations for Defenders
Plan for fraud enabling as a permanent condition, the real leverage sits at the infrastructure and payment-rail layers.
KasadaIQ - Considerations for Defenders
Prioritize the human-plus-AI risk surface, the immediate threat is humans re-tooling with AI at speed.
KasadaIQ - Considerations for Defenders
Break solutions faster than operators can re-rent them; resets degrade service across the whole buyer tier.
KasadaIQ - Considerations for Defenders
Prioritize the human-plus-AI risk surface, the immediate threat is humans re-tooling with AI at speed.
About the Data
More reports
Q3 2026 Threat Intelligence Report
In Q3 2026, a cluster of criminal marketplaces collapsed and tracked listings still rose 52% as sellers rebuilt elsewhere. Identity data exposed in 40+ incidents fed a market where every input to a KYC check is for sale, and AI lowered the cost of each stage of the attack. The holiday season will start well before Black Friday.
Read more
Total economic impact of Kasada
Before Kasada, each organization in the study had a legacy CDN bot management solution. All of them had the same problem: their tool was telling them they were protected. They weren’t.
Read more
