Autocatalysis is a reaction in which one of the products helps produce more of the same product, so the process accelerates as it continues. In chemistry, that means the reaction can become increasingly efficient over time because its own output acts like a catalyst.
In cybersecurity, the idea is useful for understanding self-reinforcing attack chains. A small initial compromise can trigger automation that creates more access, more data, or more victims: for example, a worm that spreads itself, malware that steals credentials and then uses them to move laterally, or a phishing campaign that turns one infected mailbox into many. Defenders try to break these feedback loops with segmentation, least privilege, rate limits, monitoring, and rapid containment. Once the cycle is interrupted, the attack loses the “self-driving” behavior that makes it scale.