MICROSOFT
The phishing email in your inbox just got an AI rewrite
Threat actors are starting to use AI to speed up and scale cyber operations.
As businesses adopt AI to improve efficiency, attackers are also integrating these tools into their workflows.
According to Microsoft Threat Intelligence, most misuse today involves using generative AI to produce text, code, or media.
Attackers use language models to write phishing emails, translate messages, summarise stolen data, generate malware code, and assist with scripts or infrastructure.
In most cases, AI acts as a support tool while human operators still control the attack.
Microsoft highlighted activity linked to North Korean groups known as Jasper Sleet and Coral Sleet, where AI helps create fake digital identities and maintain remote IT jobs.
These operations allow attackers to gain legitimate access to organisations and misuse it over time.
Researchers are also seeing early experiments with agentic AI, where models assist with decision-making and task execution.
While still limited, this could eventually make cyber operations more automated.
How attackers are using AI:
Attackers use AI to study software vulnerabilities, analyse technical information, and identify tools that could support an attack.
AI helps generate realistic names, CVs, emails, and phishing messages. This makes fraudulent identities and scams more convincing.
Threat actors use AI to help build and maintain attack infrastructure, including domains, servers, and remote access systems.
AI coding tools can help write, modify, and debug malicious code, making malware development faster.
The phishing glow-up
Microsoft also observed attempts to bypass AI safety protections by using prompt techniques designed to trick models into generating restricted outputs.
At the same time, security teams are using AI to detect threats and disrupt malicious activity.
Microsoft reports that it has already shut down thousands of accounts linked to fraudulent IT worker operations.
Somewhere a hacker just asked ChatGPT to “make this scam sound professional.”- MG