Darktrace: Generative AI to Amp Up Cybercriminals' Capabilities

Between May and July, Darktrace saw changes in attacks that attempt to abuse trust. While VIP impersonation – phishing emails that mimic senior executives – decreased 11%, email account takeover attempts increased by 52% and impersonation of the internal IT team increased by 19%. The changes suggest that as employees have become better attuned to the impersonation of senior executives, attackers are pivoting to impersonating IT teams to launch their attacks.

In the same timeframe, Darktrace’s Cyber AI Research Center observed a 59% increase in multistage payload attacks across Darktrace customers. That’s when a malicious email encourages the recipient to follow a series of steps before delivering a payload or attempting to harvest sensitive information. This reflects an increase in QR code phishing attacks as a way to smuggle in malicious links and indicates increasing use of automation in attacks.

Darktrace detected nearly 50,000 more multistage payload attacks in July than in May. Automating these attacks would allow cybercriminals to hit more targets faster.

The new data released demonstrates a challenge beyond automation and AI — the ever-changing patterns of attackers as they seek to evade defenses.