The 'Butler Attack' — Delivering Prompt Data Breaches Direct From Your Mailbox

Introduction

Forget the "Barbarians at the gate," we may have bigger issues to deal with from the "Butler's serving us at our Banquets." While Business Email Compromise (BEC) and/or ransomware attacks have been effective cyber-crimes to date, a new breed of attacks is on the rise, targeting artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled technology and applications. These attacks also represent a new form of insider threat that we need to consider in our risk management models.

In the face of these emerging AI attacks involving prompt engineering techniques, organisations must focus on strengthening their defences. These attacks pose significant risks to AI-enabled technology and organisations that deploy them unless appropriate actions are taken. Rapid adoption of AI — particularly Generative AI (GenAI) and Agentic AI — has increased the potential impact of these vulnerabilities as technologies become more integrated into business operations. Remediation steps using traditional security