Ankura CTIX FLASH Update - September 27, 2024

Ransomware/Malware Activity

AI-Generated Malware Deployed in Phishing Attacks

Cybersecurity researchers have recently identified an email phishing campaign that deploys a malware dropper likely produced by a generative AI model. Cybercriminals have been known to use "Dark" AI to enhance their social engineering attacks, better articulating their pretext and eliminating tell-tale grammatical and spelling errors. CTIX analysts reported on the emergence of "Dark" AI this summer. Now it is evident that unsophisticated cybercriminals are leveraging generative AI tools trained for malicious intent to build malware, further lowering the barrier of entry into the cybercrime industry. Researchers at HP Wolf Security recently released their analysis of a phishing email with an invoice lure and encrypted HTML attachment. Once the HTML attachment is decrypted, a website opens and a VBScript runs that drops the AsyncRAT infostealer onto the victim machine. The VBScript