AI assistants pose new risks for business email compromise attacks

Cybersecurity researchers are warning that integrated AI assistants could become a significant tool for attackers to accelerate Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks. By using an AI assistant within a compromised account, attackers can process vast amounts of information in seconds to identify high-value targets, such as pending payments, invoices, and bank transfer details.

In one identified scenario, an attacker used an AI assistant to scan a hijacked inbox, locating a pending payment of $247,500. The AI allowed the attacker to quickly summarize financial routines and approval processes, enabling them to impersonate executives with high accuracy. Experts suggest that while this specific method has not yet been widely documented in real-world attacks, the speed at which AI can extract and summarize sensitive data makes it a highly probable evolution for cybercriminals.