Google Discovers AI-Powered Malware in the Wild, But Experts Question Real-World Threat Level
17 Sources
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AI-generated malware poses little real-world threat, contrary to hype
Google on Wednesday revealed five recent malware samples that were built using generative AI. The end results of each one were far below par with professional malware development, a finding that shows that vibe coding of malicious wares lags behind more traditional forms of development, which means
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Google spots malware in the wild that morphs mid-attack, thanks to AI
Google detected novel adaptive malware in the wild.This new malware uses LLMs to dynamically generate code.Google also listed other new key trends in cyberattacks. The use of artificial intelligence (AI) in cyberattacks has entered a new phase: the development of novel malware actively used in the
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Google Finds Malware Connecting to AI Large Language Models to Hone Attacks
In a disturbing, yet not surprising, discovery, Google has uncovered new malware strains that can connect to AI models to help refine their attacks in real-time. In a Wednesday report, the company's threat intelligence group warned that three malware strains were used in actual operations and
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Here's how spies and crooks abuse Gemini AI
Meanwhile, others tried to social-engineer the chatbot itself Nation-state goons and cybercrime rings are experimenting with Gemini to develop a "Thinking Robot" malware module that can rewrite its own code to avoid detection, and build an AI agent that tracks enemies' behavior, according to
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Google warns of new AI-powered malware families deployed in the wild
Google's Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has identified a major shift this year, with adversaries leveraging artificial intelligence to deploy new malware families that integrate large language models (LLMs) during execution. This new approach enables dynamic altering mid-execution, which reaches
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Google Uncovers PROMPTFLUX Malware That Uses Gemini AI to Rewrite Its Code Hourly
Google on Wednesday said it discovered an unknown threat actor using an experimental Visual Basic Script (VB Script) malware dubbed PROMPTFLUX that interacts with its Gemini artificial intelligence (AI) model API to write its own source code for improved obfuscation and evasion. "PROMPTFLUX is
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Google warns of AI-infused malware that's harder to detect than normal viruses
Google's Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) is warning that bad guys are using artificial intelligence to create and deploy new malware that both utilizes and combats large language models (LLM) like Gemini when deployed. The findings were laid out in a white paper released on Wednesday, November 5
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Google warns criminals are building and selling illicit AI tools - and the market is growing
'Just-in-time' AI malware shows how criminals are evolving their techniques Google's Threat Intelligence Group has identified a worrying shift in AI trends, with AI no longer just being used to make criminals more productive, but also now being specially developed for active operations. Its
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Hackers are already using AI-enabled malware, Google says
Why it matters: The discovery suggests adversarial hackers are moving closer to operationalizing generative AI to supercharge their attacks. Driving the news: Researchers in Google's Threat Intelligence Group have discovered two new malware strains -- PromptFlux and PromptSteal -- that use large
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Google flags an AI-powered malware which rewrites itself in real time
What Happened: So, Google's top security - Google's Threat Intelligence Group, or GTIG - just found something that is frankly pretty terrifying. It's a new type of malware they're calling PROMPTFLUX. Get this: this new virus uses the same kind of AI that powers stuff like Google Gemini to rewrite
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Malware Is Now Using AI to Rewrite Its Own Code to Avoid Detection
Researchers at Google's Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) have discovered that hackers are creating malware that can harness the power of large language models (LLMs) to rewrite itself on the fly. An experimental malware family dubbed PROMPTFLUX, identified by GTIG in a recent blog post, can
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Google Threat Report Links AI-powered Malware to DPRK Crypto Theft - Decrypt
Google says it has disabled the accounts and tightened safeguards around model access. Google has warned that several new malware families now use large language models during execution to modify or generate code, marking a new phase in how state-linked and criminal actors are deploying artificial
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Great, now even malware is using LLMs to rewrite its code, says Google, as it documents new phase of 'AI abuse'
AI has been up to some naughty things in the past few years. From ignoring copyright to producing pretty awful approximations of games, to being exploited to lock down your machine. It seems like, as AI gets smarter, it only gets easier to use in malicious ways. One piece of malware has even been
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Google warns that a new era of self-evolving, AI-driven malware has begun - SiliconANGLE
Google warns that a new era of self-evolving, AI-driven malware has begun A new report out today from Google LLC's Threat Intelligence Group warns that there has been a major shift in cybercrime as attackers are no longer using artificial intelligence solely for productivity but are now deploying
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Google reveals AI-powered malware using LLMs in real time
Identified malware families include PROMPTSTEAL, QUIETVAULT, FRUITSHELL, PROMPTFLUX, and PROMPTLOCK. Google's Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has identified a significant escalation in the malicious use of artificial intelligence. Adversaries are no longer just using AI for productivity tasks
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Google Identifies New Forms of AI-Powered Cyberattacks | PYMNTS.com
GTIG said in a report released Wednesday that this is the first time it has seen malware families use large language models during execution. "While still nascent, this represents a significant step toward more autonomous and adaptive malware," the report said. This is one example of the ways
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Hackers Using AI to Make Self-Writing Malware, Says Google
The Google Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has reported a significant shift in cyberattacks: threat actors are no longer using artificial intelligence just to speed up their work; they are now building malware that uses AI to change its own code during execution. According to GTIG's latest
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Google's Threat Intelligence Group has identified several new malware families that leverage AI and large language models for dynamic code generation and evasion tactics. However, security experts argue these AI-generated threats remain experimental and pose limited real-world danger compared to traditional malware development methods.
Google Identifies AI-Powered Malware Families
Google's Threat Intelligence Group (GTIG) has uncovered a significant development in cybersecurity: the emergence of malware families that integrate artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) during execution. The company's latest AI Threat Tracker, published in November 2024, documents five distinct malware samples that leverage generative AI capabilities, marking what researchers call a "new operational phase of AI abuse."
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Among the most notable discoveries is PromptFlux, an experimental VBScript dropper that features a "Thinking Robot" module designed to periodically query Google's Gemini AI model. This malware attempts to obtain new code for evading antivirus software by sending prompts such as "Provide a single, small, self-contained VBScript function or code block that helps evade antivirus detection."
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The malware can theoretically rewrite its entire source code on an hourly basis to maintain persistence and avoid detection.4
Real-World Deployment and Attribution
More concerning is PromptSteal, which represents the first observed case of malware querying an LLM in live operations. Ukrainian cyber authorities flagged this data-mining malware in July 2024, attributing it to APT28, a Russian state-sponsored hacking group also known as Fancy Bear.
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PromptSteal masquerades as an image generation program while connecting to Alibaba's Qwen large language model to generate commands for execution rather than hard-coding them directly into the malware.Other identified samples include QuietVault, a JavaScript credential stealer that targets GitHub and NPM tokens while using on-host AI CLI tools to search for additional secrets, and FruitShell, a PowerShell reverse shell that establishes remote command-and-control access.
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Expert Skepticism on Threat Level
Despite the technical novelty, cybersecurity experts express significant skepticism about the actual threat posed by these AI-generated malware samples. Independent researcher Kevin Beaumont told Ars Technica that "more than three years into the generative AI craze, threat development is painfully slow," comparing the results unfavorably to traditional malware development practices.
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Security researcher Marcus Hutchins, who helped shut down the WannaCry ransomware attack in 2017, questioned the practical effectiveness of the discovered malware, citing weak or impractical prompts. He noted that PromptFlux's requests to Gemini don't specify what the code should accomplish or how it will evade antivirus software, working under the flawed assumption that the AI inherently knows how to bypass security measures.
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Limitations and Detection Capabilities
Google's analysis reveals significant limitations in the AI-generated malware samples. All five samples were easily detectable by less-sophisticated endpoint protections relying on static signatures, employed previously seen methods, and had no operational impact requiring new defensive measures.
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The PromptLock ransomware, part of an academic study, was found to omit critical features like persistence, lateral movement, and advanced evasion tactics.Nation-State Actor Involvement
The report documents extensive experimentation by nation-state actors across multiple countries. Iranian group APT42 attempted to use Gemini to build a "data processing agent" that converts natural language requests into SQL queries for analyzing personally identifiable information. Chinese actors posed as capture-the-flag participants to bypass Gemini's safety filters, while North Korean groups Masan and Pukchong utilized the AI for crypto theft and multilingual phishing campaigns.
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Google has responded by disabling associated accounts and reinforcing model safeguards to prevent similar abuse attempts in the future.
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