AI Drives 1,265% Jump in Phishing Attacks as Hackers Industrialize Deepfake Fraud
Updated
Updated · Financial Times · Jul 20
AI Drives 1,265% Jump in Phishing Attacks as Hackers Industrialize Deepfake Fraud
3 articles · Updated · Financial Times · Jul 20
Summary
Phishing attacks surged 1,265% in 2025, according to DeepStrike, as generative AI let attackers produce cheaper, more convincing and highly personalized lures.
Cloudflare’s 2026 threat report said three North Korean groups, including PutridSlug, have industrialized AI use; PutridSlug used deepfake video and audio on Zoom to impersonate executives and plant malware.
AI now supports multi-vector campaigns that blend email, SMS, messaging apps and follow-up voice calls over days or weeks, while synthetic identities and fake job applicants help attackers gain trust and access.
Companies are responding with liveness detection, behavioral checks and zero-trust verification for sensitive requests, though some security experts argue training alone cannot contain the fallout from increasingly inevitable social-engineering attacks.
As hackers use AI to slash attack costs, are billion-dollar defenses fighting a losing battle against a 4-cent email?
When a live video call is no longer proof of life, how can our digital society continue to function?
Escalating AI-Powered Cybercrime: Phishing, Deepfakes, and the Multi-Billion Dollar Cost to Business (2025-2026)
Overview
Artificial intelligence is rapidly transforming cybercrime, making phishing and deepfake fraud more dangerous and harder to detect. Advancements in generative AI have enabled fraudsters to automate complex schemes, leading to an explosive growth in malicious activities and staggering financial losses across sectors, especially in retail. The automation powered by AI allows for a much higher volume of attacks, with fraudsters scaling up refund scams and other sophisticated tactics. As a result, organizations and individuals face an urgent and escalating threat that demands proactive and adaptive security measures to keep pace with these evolving risks.