Top AI tools such as OpenClaw and Github Copilot can be hijacked to create new massive botnets


Your favorite AI service could be subverted to deploy code that turns your phone or PC into a botnet, according to researchers at Intuit, Technion, and Tel Aviv University.

The technique has been given the name HalluSquatting, a portmanteau of adversarial hallucination squatting, and is similar to typosquatting in that it relies on a mistake in order to distribute malicious code. While typosquatting might occur with the incorrect input of a website URL, HalluSquatting pivots on an LLM being unable to identify a resource or repository with 100% accuracy.

Read more…
Source:  TechRadar News


Sign up for the Cyber Security Review Newsletter
The latest cyber security news and insights delivered right to your inbox


Related:

  • Securing ambient AI in healthcare: governance is the new front line

    March 5, 2026

    Ambient AI is no longer experimental. It’s live. From AI-powered clinical documentation assistants to remote monitoring systems and intelligent patient engagement agents, healthcare organizations are embedding AI directly into care delivery. The promise is compelling: less administrative burden, faster insights, and more time with patients. But as AI enters clinical workflows, a more urgent question emerges: ...

  • Chrome flaw let extensions hijack Gemini’s camera, mic, and file access

    March 3, 2026

    Chrome’s Gemini “Live in Chrome” panel (Gemini’s embedded, agent-style assistant mode within Chrome) had a high‑severity vulnerability tracked as CVE‑2026‑0628. The flaw let a low‑privilege extension inject code into the Gemini side panel and inherit its powerful capabilities, including local file access, screenshots, and camera/microphone control. The vulnerability was patched in a January update. But the ...

  • Fooling AI Agents: Web-Based Indirect Prompt Injection Observed in the Wild

    March 3, 2026

    Large language models (LLMs) and AI agents are becoming deeply integrated into web browsers, search engines and automated content-processing pipelines. While these integrations can expand functionality, they also introduce a new and largely underexplored attack surface. One particularly concerning class of threats is indirect prompt injection (IDPI), in which adversaries embed hidden or manipulated instructions within ...

  • US Military Used Anthropic AI to Crunch Intel and Pick Targets in Iran Strike, Despite Trump’s Ban

    March 1, 2026

    The US military reportedly used Anthropic’s Claude AI during a major strike in the Middle East against Iran, just hours after US President Donald Trump ordered all federal agencies to stop using the technology. According to WSJ, officials say the AI helped with intelligence analysis, spotting potential targets, and running ‘what-if’ battle scenarios. Even though Trump had ...

  • Anthropic ditches its core safety promise in the middle of an AI red line fight with the Pentagon

    February 25, 2026

    Anthropic, a company founded by OpenAI exiles worried about the dangers of AI, is loosening its core safety principle in response to competition. Instead of self-imposed guardrails constraining its development of AI models, Anthropic is adopting a nonbinding safety framework that it says can and will change. In a blog post Tuesday outlining its new policy, ...

  • AWS says more than 600 FortiGate firewalls hit in AI-augmented campaign

    February 23, 2026

    Cybercriminals armed with off-the-shelf generative AI tools compromised more than 600 internet-exposed FortiGate firewalls across 55 countries in just over a month, according to a new incident report from AWS. The campaign, which ran from mid-January to mid-February, relied less on clever zero-days and more on the equivalent of trying every digital door handle – just ...