Generative AI Amplifies Cyber Threats

Mimecast’s latest threat intelligence report, compiled from internal systems, analyst insights and open‑source data, reveals a marked escalation in the use of generative artificial intelligence (GenAI) by threat actors. Cybercriminals are employing AI to craft highly persuasive phishing lures, automate business email compromise (BEC) scams and orchestrate multichannel deception campaigns that blend email, voice and synthetic media.

Phishing Dominates the Attack Landscape

According to the report, phishing now represents 77% of all recorded attacks, a significant increase from the previous year. AI‑generated content enables attackers to mimic vendors, executives and coworkers with unprecedented realism, producing entire email threads, synthetic voices and realistic audio messages that can evade traditional detection mechanisms.

Rise of ClickFix and BEC Scams

ClickFix attacks have surged fivefold year‑on‑year, accounting for roughly 8% of incidents in the first six months of 2025. The report also documents a sharp rise in BEC scams, including a global invoice fraud campaign where AI‑generated messages urged recipients to approve payments. Trusted services such as DocuSign, Salesforce and Adobe Pay are repeatedly abused, while legitimate CAPTCHA services are repurposed to conceal phishing operations.

Notable Threat Actors

The Scattered Spider group is highlighted as a prolific actor, being linked to more than 900,000 detections across multiple campaigns. Targets span financial institutions, regulators, city governments and other public and private entities, reflecting a broadening of the attacker profile to include profit‑motivated ransomware groups and state‑backed actors.

Expert Commentary

Ranjan Singh, Mimecast’s Chief Product & Technology Officer, described the trend as “a clear evolution in attacker behavior,” emphasizing the exponential rise of AI‑driven threats across sectors.

Mitigation Recommendations

Mimecast urges organizations to adopt a layered defense strategy. Core recommendations include implementing multi‑factor authentication (MFA), deploying advanced email security solutions that leverage anomaly detection and AI models, and maintaining continuous system and policy updates. Employee awareness programs, regular phishing simulations and comprehensive security frameworks—covering endpoint protection, network monitoring and trusted‑service abuse checks—are also advocated to reduce exposure to AI‑enhanced attacks.

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