Generative AI has proven to be more than just a tool for theft from artists and writers; it is also enhancing the capabilities of malware, making it more efficient in its propagation. At this year’s Black Hat conference, hackers revealed that some advanced malware could bypass Microsoft Defender—accounting for security on billions of Windows machines—up to 8 percent of the time. While an 8 percent failure rate may not appear catastrophic at first glance, it’s important to note that this represents a significant improvement in AI-powered malware’s effectiveness.
Compared to current models that can be manipulated to generate malware, this advancement poses a far more serious threat. With 1.4 billion active Windows machines worldwide, the potential impact of this technology becomes daunting. If a theoretically advanced system were to compromise even 10 percent of these machines, we could see around 140 million devices affected, translating to over 11 million compromised PCs.
According to its creator, this malware is based on an open-source language model and was developed in just three months for a mere $1,500. This relatively low investment and short development cycle highlight the accessibility and scalability of such malicious tools. The ease with which a “build your own black hat AI hacker” kit could be distributed resembles the current trend involving plug-and-play malware solutions, raising significant concerns for cybersecurity.
The fact that Avery will present his findings at a security conference provides Microsoft with a timely opportunity to counter this advancement. It allows them to identify the vulnerabilities presented by this new malware and work on mitigating its most critical threats before it can inflict widespread harm.