Ransomware in financial services now moves at machine speed, outpacing traditional defenses and exposing flat networks. Michael Villar, director of field security technology at Akamai, said artificial intelligence-powered attackers compress the entire kill chain into minutes, leaving little room for manual response. AI-driven segmentation changes the balance by containing threats before data theft or service disruption occurs.
Attackers no longer rely on file encryption alone. They steal data, threaten disclosure and launch denial-of-service attacks to force payment. Low barriers to entry allow affiliates with limited skills to deploy adaptive malware. Villar said many banks still rely on fragmented controls across hybrid environments, which lets intruders move laterally once inside. Flat architectures turn every server into an attack surface.
“We’ve moved past that era of manual ransomware,” Villar said. “AI allows low-level expertise affiliates to use agents that perform complex tool calls and deploy malware that actually learns and adapts to your network defenses and it does it in real time.”
In this audio interview with Information Security Media Group, Villar also discussed:
- Why AI-driven microsegmentation acts as adaptive containment;
- How visibility-first policy generation reduces human error;
- Ways security teams govern AI agents instead of reacting to alerts.
Villar leads field security technology efforts that help organizations modernize defenses and strengthen cyber resilience. With more than a decade in the industry, he advises enterprises on zero trust, microsegmentation and security architecture, aligning Akamai capabilities with business and risk priorities across complex environments.