AI crimes

Axkios - AI is rewriting the playbook for crime — from cheap deepfake scams and AI-written ransomware to mass identity hijacks and critical-infrastructure hacks, Axios' Russell Contreras writes. This new class of AI-supercharged crime is endangering lives and financial systems. Police training, laws and cross-border tools aren't keeping up.

Off-the-shelf AI lowers the skill level and cost of carrying out attacks, enabling small crews to execute schemes that previously required nation-state resources.

• Crimes can now hit millions at once with voice clones and account takeovers. Local agencies are trained and funded to chase one case at a time.

AI can create automations to "lock pick" into a system millions of times per second, something humans can't do, futurist Ian Khan tells Axios.

• Once inside, hackers can then use AI to steal identities, pump and dump stocks and cause havoc to utility plants, smart homes and hospitals.

The attacks can come from across the street to the other side of the world, said Marc Goodman, author of "Future Crimes: Inside the Digital Underground and the Battle for Our Connected World."

• Deep fake voices can convince victims to hand over money, or stolen identities could lead to voter fraud, child pornography and false arrests.

Chinese state-backed hackers used AI tools from Anthropic to automate breaches of major companies and foreign governments during a September cyber campaign, the company said yesterday.

• "We believe this is the first documented case of a large-scale cyberattack executed without substantial human intervention," the company said in a statement.

Beyond large-scale attacks, even petty AI crimes have local law enforcement on edge.

Future robo-dogs could burglarize homes.

• Hacked cars may just drive off by themselves to chop shops, and AI systems could inform a would-be thief the best way to break into a car. Share this story.