ESET Report Shows Cybercriminals Accelerate AI‑Powered Attacks

The security firm ESET’s mid‑year 2026 threat report finds that cyber‑attackers are increasingly exploiting artificial intelligence. Analyzing roughly 900,000 AI‑related skills, the researchers identified tens of thousands of suspicious activities and thousands of confirmed malicious cases.

Among the findings is PromptSpy, the first known Android malware that uses generative AI during execution to evade detection. ESET’s labs also observed AI‑enhanced use of traditional hacking tools such as Mimikatz and Impacket, as well as new techniques that create persistence mechanisms via JSON files.

“Attackers are quickly adapting established techniques to new platforms, technologies and user behaviours. The number of AI skills in this ecosystem is rising rapidly, broadening the attack surface,” said Jiri Kropac, head of ESET’s Threat Prevention Labs.