What are AI-powered phishing attacks?

A traditional phishing attack is a social engineering tactic which is used to steal confidential information via emails, direct messages, dubious websites. AI has now increased their impact by making these attacks appear more authentic and difficult to detect.

Fraudsters are using large language models like ChatGPT to include real time information and create a sense of urgency for victims to act in the phishing emails. There have been cases of fake ChatGPT apps, that deploy phishing campaigns upon download to steal users' information. Phishing websites were also found to spread malware using name and images from OpenAI.

Spear phishing attacks are targeted towards specific user or organization with information obtained from social media. With sophisticated GenAI, spear phishing emails can be written easily and are more likely to trick the recipients.

Vishing (voice phishing) and deepfakes are other types of phishing that can target victims by using GenAI to clone voice of a trusted contact and create convincing fake images, audio, video recordings.

Best practices to protect yourself from AI-powered phishing attacks:

Stay informed with regular training about phishing attacks and simulated phishing exercises.

Check for emails that are creating a sense of urgency and classic phishing email errors.

Verify sender's email address and inspect links and attachments before clicking on it.

Use Multi factor authentication as an extra layer of protection to access accounts.

Keep up to date with security practices to address new threats.

Prioritize email security and anti-phishing tools using a layered security strategy.

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