Phishing with AI is cybersecurity’s new hook

Cybersecurity has always been a field with shifting threats. And with the recent rise of AI and generative AI, companies are now dealing with new challenges while existing ones have been intensified, note partner Marc Sorel and colleagues. For example, generative AI is enabling attackers to create more realistic phishing emails and deepfakes to deceive employees into divulging sensitive information. Since ChatGPT launched, the number of detected phishing sites surged 138 percent.

Cyberattackers continue to use generative AI to accelerate phishing as their primary method of attack.

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A line chart shows the annual number of phishing sites detected, in millions, from 2008 to 2023. Starting near zero in 2008, the number remained below 0.5 million through 2016, barely exceeding this threshold until 2017. A sustained increase began in 2019, reaching ~2 million by 2022. By 2023, that number surged to nearly 5 million, marking a 138% increase from 2022, the same year ChatGPT was launched.

Source: State of the Phish Report, Proofpoint, 2023.

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To read the article, see “The cybersecurity provider’s next opportunity: Making AI safer,” November 14, 2024.