Criminal AI-as-a-Service in 2026: How the Underground Market Is Operationalizing Cybercrime


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:

  • Gaming-related cyberthreats in 2023: Minecrafters targeted the most

    November 6, 2023

    The gaming industry continues growing. The Newzoo report for 2023 reveals that two in five – more than three billion – across the globe are gamers, which is 6.3 percent more than last year. Globally, gaming revenue amounts to an estimated US$242.39 billion, with almost half of that generated by the Asia Pacific. By the ...

  • Agonizing Serpens (Aka Agrius) Targeting the Israeli Higher Education and Tech Sectors

    November 6, 2023

    Unit 42 researchers have investigated a series of destructive cyberattacks beginning in January 2023 and continuing as recently as October 2023, targeting the education and technology sectors in Israel. The attacks are characterized by attempts to steal sensitive data, such as personally identifiable information (PII) and intellectual property. Once the attackers stole the information, they ...

  • New Report On Suffolk County Cyber Attack Raises Questions

    November 6, 2023

    The former IT commissioner for the Suffolk County Clerk’s department did not alert county officials that the computer network in the clerk’s office was responding to a “radical malware attack” until eight hours after he was alerted, the Press has learned. The Center for Internet Security (CIS) sent an email at 3 a.m. on Sept. 8, ...

  • US sanctions Russian accused of laundering Ryuk ransomware funds

    November 6, 2023

    The U.S. government has sanctioned a Russian national for allegedly laundering millions of dollars’ worth of victim ransom payments on behalf of individuals linked to the notorious Ryuk ransomware group. According to an announcement from the U.S. Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), Ekaterina Zhdanova, 37, is accused of using virtual currency exchange transfers and ...

  • Allied Pilots Association Hit With Ransomware Attack

    November 4, 2023

    On October 30, APA experienced a cybersecurity incident referred to by the union as a ransomware attack. In a statement, the Allied Pilots Association explained, “Upon discovery of the incident, we immediately took steps to secure our networks. Our IT team, with the support of outside experts, continues to work nonstop to restore our systems.” This ...

  • Infosys subsidiary hit by cyber security attack

    November 3, 2023

    Infosys announced on Friday, November 3, that its US unit, Infosys McCamish Systems, was impacted by a cyber security event, resulting in the non-availability of certain applications and systems. The IT services major said it is working with a cyber security company to resolve the issue and that it had launched an investigation to identify the ...