AI tool ScamBuster aims to turn the tables on email scammers

An AI-powered tool named ScamBuster is being developed by Laurent Giovannoni, a principal software engineer at Filigran, to combat malicious phishing emails by engaging with scammers and gathering intelligence. Instead of simply deleting suspicious emails, ScamBuster uses artificial intelligence to masquerade as a potential victim, tricking attackers into revealing crucial information about their operations. This approach aims to disrupt phishing campaigns at scale and provide valuable data for cybersecurity professionals and law enforcement, with further coverage provided by Dark Reading.

ScamBuster operates by responding to incoming phishing emails with an AI-driven persona designed to appear as a gullible victim, such as an elderly individual or a novice business owner. The goal is to prolong the interaction and extract details about the attacker's infrastructure, including financial account information, phone numbers, and payment methods. This collected data is then structured into threat intelligence, formatted as STIX 2.1 and MISP, which can be used by organizations and authorities to identify related scams, track cybercriminal networks, and build comprehensive profiles of malicious actors.

The system continuously learns and adapts its conversational strategies to improve its effectiveness in eliciting information. While currently focused on email phishing, future updates are planned to address vishing and smishing attacks. ScamBuster is designed to be cost-effective and AI-agnostic, allowing users to integrate various large language models.

Source: Dark Reading