- AI-powered cyber attacks, including deepfakes and advanced social engineering, are leading to record levels of online crime and financial losses in 2026.
- Hackers are utilising AI tools like Google's Gemini to develop sophisticated traps, conduct reconnaissance, and create hyper-realistic impersonations for scams.
- Generative AI has transformed social engineering, enabling criminals to craft highly personalised phishing attacks, synthetic voice calls, and deepfake video personas, making them alarmingly effective.
- New forms of AI-driven malware, such as Promptflux, use large language models to mutate their code in real-time, making them nearly undetectable by traditional antivirus software.
- Experts warn that AI has industrialised cybercrime, dramatically increasing the speed, scale, and sophistication of attacks, with projected losses from AI-driven fraud potentially reaching $40 billion by 2027.
IN FULL
Why 2026 is the most dangerous year ever to be on the internet
