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, threat actors are increasingly using AI to accelerate routine, but operationally significant, tasks to scale their operations. Drafting phishing lures, profiling targets, debugging code, generating forged documents, modifying malware, translating victim communications, and processing stolen data at scale were once time-consuming activities that AI has made significantly easier. AI does not replace cybercriminals; it lowers friction, increases speed, and expands the range of actors able to perform tasks that previously required more time, skill, or external support.
Read more…
Source: Rapid7 News
Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox
Related:
- From fake Proton VPN sites to gaming mods, this Windows infostealer is everywhere
April 15, 2026
Malwarebytes Labs researchers uncovered multiple campaigns distributing an infostealer we track as NWHStealer, using everything from fake VPN downloads to hardware utilities and gaming mods. What makes this campaign stand out isn’t just the malware, but how widely and convincingly it’s being spread. Once installed, it can collect browser data, saved passwords, and cryptocurrency wallet information, ...
- Sweden blames Russian hackers for attempting ‘destructive’ cyberattack on thermal plant
April 15, 2026
The Swedish government said Russian government-linked hackers attempted to disrupt the operations at one of the country’s thermal power plants last year. Sweden said that, while the hackers were unsuccessful, hybrid attacks that extend beyond cyberspace are becoming more dangerous. Sweden’s minister of civil defense, Carl-Oskar Bohlin, said during a press conference on Wednesday that the ...
- Omnistealer uses the blockchain to steal everything it can
April 14, 2026
A new infostealer dubbed Omnistealer is turning the blockchain into a permanent malware hosting platform, which is bad news for both companies and everyday users. It’s pretty common for malware to store its payload on a public platform, ideally one that adds some trustworthiness to the download location, like Google docs, OneDrive, GitHub, npm, PyPI, and ...
- Zombie Microsoft bugs rise from the dead, pave way for crims and ransomware scum
April 13, 2026
Crooks are exploiting four Microsoft vulnerabilities – one patched 14 years ago and another tied to ransomware activity – according to America’s lead cyber-defense agency, which on Monday gave federal agencies two weeks to patch them. The four vulnerabilities added to CISA’s Known Exploited Vulnerabilities (KEV) catalog on Monday are: CVE-2025-60710, a link-following vulnerability in Windows ...
- Booking.com confirms hackers accessed customers’ data
April 13, 2026
Booking.com confirmed Monday that hackers may have accessed customers’ personal data, including names, email addresses, phone numbers, and booking details. The global travel and hotel reservation giant notified customers this past week of the breach, according to several online posts. “We’re writing to inform you that unauthorized third parties may have been able to access certain ...
- JanelaRAT: A financial threat targeting users in Latin America
April 13, 2026
JanelaRAT is a malware family that takes its name from the Portuguese word “janela” which means “window”. JanelaRAT looks for financial and cryptocurrency data from specific banks and financial institutions in the Latin America region. JanelaRAT is a modified variant of BX RAT that has targeted users since June 2023. One of the key differences between ...