Artificial intelligence is driving a surge in online intellectual property (IP) infringement which is pushing businesses to the limit.

New research from security and threat intelligence provider CSC has found that impersonation is the biggest online intellectual property (IP) infringement concern for organisations, cited by 40% of respondents. Phishing and domain name abuse follow closely behind, both at 39%. The research surveyed 300 senior executives specialising in IP law, including general counsels, chief legal officers and chief technology officers.

The findings contained in CSC’s ’s State of Online IP Risk 2026  come as organisations report a rise in online IP infringement. More than eight in ten respondents (82%) have seen infringement rise over the past 12 months, including 27% who have experienced a significant increase. Looking ahead, 29% expect a significant increase over the next year, rising to 52% over the next three years.

AI is expected to add further pressure. Nine in ten (90%) respondents believe AI-enabled systems are increasing the frequency of online IP infringements and similar threats. Adding to this, almost all (98%) believe AI-enabled processes could expose their organisations to IP infringements over the next three years. More than two in five (43%) expect their organisation to be “extremely” exposed.

The report said AI is fuelling record levels of intellectual property (IP) infringement, a trend that will only grow in terms of scale, speed, and sophistication in the months and years ahead.

The increasingly low bar to entry for bad actors launching fraudulent campaigns, coupled with the adoption of digital channels for almost all aspects of home and business life, is making it extremely difficult for organizations to guard against attacks on their IP assets. As a result, organizations run the risk of serious financial and reputational damage. Regulation designed to limit the spread of AI for nefarious activities is underway but patchy across the world and quickly circumvented by those determined to cause harm. Now is the time to review whether an organization’s internal resources—and specialist partners—are ready to meet the current threat landscape.

“AI is responsible for scaling IP infringements to extraordinary levels,” said Elliott Champion, global product director for Brand Protection, CSC. “While it would have taken five people to weaponize a phishing attack over several days, a single person can now do it in an hour. The primary goal for organizations today is to make sure that marketing, IT, security, and legal teams are connected from a digital governance perspective.”

This is fuelling concern among organisations. Almost all (96%) respondents are either “very” or “slightly” concerned about online IP infringement, up from 91% in CSC’s 2025 research. The growing volume of infringement is also creating operational pressure. Almost three quarters (73%) noted slow enforcement processes as a challenge when managing IP infringements, while 65% pointed to small teams or a lack of dedicated staff and 64% cited the high volume of infringement activity. Despite this, 59% said they outsource half or less of their infringement monitoring to specialist third parties.

“Beyond brand damage alone, online IP infringements cause a variety of consequences for businesses today including lost revenue, customer harm, and regulatory exposure,” added Champion. “The primary goal for organisations must be to ensure that their marketing, IT, security, and legal teams are aligned on their IP and domain management strategies–particularly in advance of any domain expansions that occur following approved gTLD applications. Relying only on defensive registration strategies will become more expensive, so we recommend combining risk-based registrations with blocking, monitoring, enforcement, and abuse mitigation.”