The digital threat landscape has fundamentally shifted. Cyber defense was previously a battle of technical exploits; today, it is a psychological war fought with unprecedented speed and scale, thanks to the recent weaponization of Artificial Intelligence. The old email scam has evolved into a hyper-realistic, targeted attack — a precision strike using AI-powered spear phishing and deepfakes.
The era of poorly written phishing emails with obvious grammatical errors is all but over. Generative AI models, like Large Language Models, are the workhorses for cybercriminals.
That is why using a trained and proven IT company, like FTC IT Solutions, has become non-negotiable. The experts there have their own weapons, like Hook Security, to thwart these cyber attackers. Through Hook, there will be hyperfocus on changing the cyber culture within an organization. This partnership also makes attempts like spear fishing and deepfakes by AI much more difficult.
Investing in this type of expertise is a necessity. A few statistics illustrate the need:
In 2022, research shows 84% of companies faced at least one phishing attempt. That was a 15% increase from the year before.
The average cost of a data breach, according to 2025 reporting, is up to $4.88 million. In the United States, that number more than doubles to $10.22 million.
And one more stat, one specific to AI, is the weaponization of AI has generated a 1,265% increase in the number of phishing emails. Let that sink in:1,265%.
The information below demonstrates how Artificial Intelligence is being utilized by cyber criminals:
Spear Phishing Supercharged by AI
Spear phishing is an attack on a specific target, often a high-value executive or a finance team member. AI grants the attacker an asymmetric advantage:
- Personalization: AI automates the reconnaissance phase, scraping public data from LinkedIn, corporate websites and social media to craft emails that mimic the target’s colleagues or vendors. These messages are free of errors and exploit an employee’s real-world contexts, like an upcoming project or a recent company event.
- Tone: Large Language Models, also referred to as LLMs, can analyze legitimate corporate communications to match the writing style and tone of a targeted executive, making the malicious email virtually indistinguishable from a genuine one. This eliminates the traditional red flags users were trained to look for.
The Deepfake Deception: Beyond the Email
The most devastating application of weaponized AI is the deepfake, a piece of synthetic media (audio or video) that convincingly impersonates a real person. This takes the attack from a text-based lure to a real-time, high-pressure confidence trick.
Deepfakes are now being used for:
- Executive Fraud (BEC 2.0): Impersonating a CEO’s voice or video to authorize urgent, large-scale wire transfers or to request sensitive credentials.
- Internal Sabotage: Creating fake audio or video of an executive to spread internal disinformation or damage a colleague’s reputation.
- Bypassing Biometrics: Researchers have demonstrated that AI voice clones can be effective at fooling voice-based security systems, further undermining traditional authentication methods.
In this new reality, technical solutions alone are insufficient. The firewall against AI deception must be the human employee, but, sad to say, personnel must be trained to an expert level. This is another point when utilizing the skills and expertise of a trained and proven IT company, like FTC IT Solutions, becomes even more vital.
Back to the stat that in 2022, 84% of companies faced at least one phishing attempt. There is no reason to think that rate will slow down. So, it is not a question if a business or organization will be threatened; it is when.
To all managers or owners: Are you equipped to handle the threat when it comes your way? Call the experts at FTC IT Solutions (888-218-5050) to find out if you are and what they can do to ensure it.
