Phishing attack spike fueled by generative AI

Phishing emails have increased by 341% and 856% during the past six and 12 months, respectively, with the surge mostly attributed to the increasing adoption of ChatGPT and other generative artificial intelligence services among threat actors, reports SiliconAngle.

Generative AI has also fueled a 27% growth in business email compromise attacks over the last six months while credential phishing has emerged as the leading breach access point, following a 217% increase during the same period, according to a SlashNext report. The findings also showed the mounting prevalence of CAPTCHA- and QR code-based phishing attacks.

Such a development highlights the growing use of AI services to facilitate more advanced cyber intrusions that better bypass detection, which has been posing a challenge to cyber defenders, said Keeper Security co-founder and CEO Darren Guccione.

"By leveraging ChatGPT or the natural language processing capabilities of other generative AI tools, bad actors can quickly and easily craft sophisticated messages tailored to specific individuals or organizations, making it more likely for recipients to fall victim to them," said Guccione.