Optro Report Finds 82 Percent Surge in AI Enabled Attacks

Optro (formerly AuditBoard) announced in a press release the findings of its new report, *Human Behavior: The AI Risk Surface GRC Can't Ignore*, which shows that 82 percent of organizations reported an increase in AI enabled attacks over the past year. The study surveyed more than 800 IT, security, audit, and GRC professionals and highlights that the most urgent AI risks stem from unvetted employee behavior and Shadow AI rather than model failures.

The report reveals that only 34 percent of organizations maintain a formal AI model inventory, while just 18 percent automatically block unauthorized AI domains. More than half of respondents said their companies use embedded AI within third party vendor tools, often without employees realizing they are engaging with AI systems.

Optro stated that these insights guided its acquisition of Midship, which will support the deployment of agentic systems of action for governance, risk, and compliance. The company said the integration will enable automation of up to 87 percent of manual control tasks through AI agents. Optro’s research also found that organizations integrating AI governance across departments reported better outcomes in managing AI related risks.

According to Guru Sethupathy, GM of AI Governance at Optro, AI will both expand the surface area of risk and become a critical component of governance structures. The full report is available on the company’s website.