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:
- Hook for Gold: Inside GoldFactory’s Сampaign That Turns Apps Into Goldmines
December 3, 2025
In February 2024, Group-IB uncovered sophisticated mobile threat campaigns that show how fast banking malware is evolving across the Asia-Pacific region. Ongoing monitoring of this evolving threat revealed a surge of aggressive mobile Trojans targeting both iOS and Android users, all operated by a single threat actor tracked as GoldFactory. Since releasing our initial report, we ...
- Fintech firm Marquis alerts dozens of US banks and credit unions of a data breach after ransomware attack
December 3, 2025
Fintech company Marquis is notifying dozens of U.S. banks and credit unions that they had customer data stolen in a cyberattack earlier this year. Details of the cyberattack emerged this week after Marquis filed data breach notices with several U.S. states confirming its August 14 incident as a ransomware attack. Texas-based Marquis is a marketing and compliance ...
- Attackers have a new way to slip past your MFA
December 3, 2025
Attackers are using a tool called Evilginx to steal session cookies, letting them bypass the need for a multi-factor authentication (MFA) token. Researchers are warning about a rise in cases where this method is used against educational institutions. Evilginx is an attacker-in-the-middle phishing toolkit that sits between you and the real website, relaying the genuine sign-in ...
- Unraveling Water Saci’s New Multi-Format, AI-Enhanced Attacks Propagated via WhatsApp
December 2, 2025
Brazil has seen a recent surge of threats delivered via WhatsApp. As observed in Trend Micro previously published research on the SORVEPOTEL malware and the broader Water Saci campaignopen on a new tab, this popular platform has been used to launch sophisticated campaigns. Unsuspecting users receive convincing messages from trusted contacts, often crafted to exploit social ...
- Tomiris wreaks Havoc: New tools and techniques of the APT group
November 28, 2025
While tracking the activities of the Tomiris threat actor, Kaspersky researchers identified new malicious operations that began in early 2025. These attacks targeted foreign ministries, intergovernmental organizations, and government entities, demonstrating a focus on high-value political and diplomatic infrastructure. In several cases, Kaspersky traced the threat actor’s actions from initial infection to the deployment of post-exploitation ...
- Organised crime online: How Europol disrupts cybercrime
November 27, 2025
How does Europol target cybercrime networks? Investigate phishing-as-a-service platforms? Or help tackle child sexual exploitation? This publication, presented at the Committee on Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Ordinary (LIBE), provides a general overview on how Europol disrupts cybercrime, taking the key insights from the Internet Organised Crime Threat Assessment (IOCTA) and EU Serious and Organised ...