All posts tagged: cybercriminals

Cybercriminals Are Complaining About AI Slop Flooding Their Forums

Cybercriminals Are Complaining About AI Slop Flooding Their Forums

The complaint sounds familiar. “I’m disappointed that you are working to incorporate AI garbage into the site,” one annoyed person, posting anonymously, said in an online message. “No-one is asking for this—we want you to improve the site, stop charging for new features.” Only, this is not a regular internet user moaning about AI being forced into their favorite app. Instead, they are complaining about a cybercrime forum’s plans to introduce more generative AI. Like millions of others, scammers, grifters, and low-level hackers are getting annoyed about AI encroaching into their lives and the rise of low-quality AI slop being posted in their online communities. “People don’t like it,” says Ben Collier, a security researcher and senior lecturer at the University of Edinburgh. As part of a recent study into how low-level cybercriminals are using AI, Collier and fellow researchers spotted an increasing pushback over the use of generative AI in underground cybercrime forums and hacking groups. During the generative AI boom and hype cycles of the past couple of years, some people posting on …

A suite of government hacking tools targeting iPhones is now being used by cybercriminals

A suite of government hacking tools targeting iPhones is now being used by cybercriminals

Security researchers have identified a suite of powerful hacking tools capable of compromising iPhones running older software that they say has passed from a government customer into the hands of cybercriminals. Google said Tuesday that it first identified the exploit kit, dubbed Coruna, in February 2025 during a surveillance vendor’s attempt to hack into someone’s phone with spyware on behalf of a government customer. It found the same exploit kit months later targeting Ukrainian users in a broad-scale campaign by a Russian espionage group, and then later found it used by a financially motivated hacker in China. It’s unclear how the tools leaked or proliferated, but Google security researchers warned of an emerging market for “secondhand” exploits, which are sold to hackers motivated by money to extract more value out of the exploit. The discovery also shows how exploits and back doors designed to be used by governments can leak and ultimately be abused by cybercriminals or other non-state actors. Mobile security company iVerify obtained and reverse-engineered the hacking tools, saying in a blog post …