One of the first things everyone predicted when artificial intelligence (AI) became more commonplace was that it would assist cybercriminals in making their phishing campaigns more effective.
Now, researchers have conducted a scientific study into the effectiveness of AI supported spear phishing, and the results line up with everyone’s expectations: AI is making it easier to do crimes. The study, titled Evaluating Large Language Models’ (LLMs) Capability to Launch Fully Automated Spear Phishing Campaigns.
Read more…
Source: Malwarebytes Labs
Related:
- More than 12,000 servers supported a coordinated phishing infrastructure worldwide
June 11, 2026
When a suspicious email lands in your inbox promising financial rewards or urgent payment requests, the infrastructure behind that email is rarely what it appears to be. An investigation by Comparitech revealed a coordinated spam and phishing network spanning 12,704 servers in 55 countries. These phishing emails are tied to fake financial rewards and similar scams, using tactics designed ...
- Criminal AI-as-a-Service in 2026: How the Underground Market Is Operationalizing Cybercrime
June 11, 2026
The underground market for criminally oriented generative AI has moved beyond the early hype surrounding ‘malicious chatbots.’ The gradual integration of AI as a productivity layer within cybercrime operations has become the dominant story, indicating that while the potential for fully autonomous AI hacking systems is possible, attackers are not embracing them as expected. Instead, ...
- Data of 2.4 million VRChat users stolen
June 11, 2026
VRChat, Inc. has filed a data breach notice revealing that the information of more than 2.4 million users was involved in a data breach. According to the notice, VRChat experienced unauthorized access to some account data between May 10 and May 12, 2026. The access happened in VRChat’s cloud environment and involved user profile and login-related data. Read more… Source: ...
- Free Spotify Premium hacks on social media are spreading infostealers
June 10, 2026
Short-form video platforms like TikTok and Instagram Reels have become the latest way cybercriminals spread malware. We’ve already seen attackers move away from traditional phishing emails and toward tactics that trick people into installing malware themselves. Now they’re being lured with slick social media videos that promise free Spotify Premium, free Windows activation, or free Microsoft Office, but ...
- Qilin NHS breach tally grows as Essex trust confirms stolen records
June 9, 2026
The patient tally from the Synnovis ransomware attack continues to grow two years later, with Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust confirming it was caught up in the breach. The trust told The Register that the Synnovis breach affected about 2,380 records relating to patients who underwent specialist diagnostic testing. The disclosure follows a similar announcement by Bedfordshire ...
- CISA gives US federal agencies three days to fix a VPN bug under attack by a ransomware gang
June 9, 2026
A ransomware group is actively exploiting an unpatched flaw in security tools used across the U.S. federal government, prompting the U.S. cybersecurity agency CISA to order all civilian agencies to remediate the vulnerability by end of day Wednesday. Cybersecurity firm Check Point Software said the bug affects several of its remote access tools, firewalls, and VPNs, which act as ...