Imagine a strain of malware hidden on your colleague's computer. It watches their every move, quietly listening and learning as it sifts through their email, calendar, and messages. In the process, it doesn't just learn their writing style. It learns the unique way they interact with nearly everyone in their life.
It picks up on the inside jokes they share with their spouse. It knows the formal tone they employ with their CEO. And it recognizes the familiar cadence they use with one of their most frequent contacts: You.
Their emails to you are often casual. And before important meetings, they are prone to sending you a friendly message of encouragement. One day, as you prepare for a morning meeting with a client, you get an email from them. It reads:
Hey.I'll see you at 9 for our call. You're gonna kill it today.See dial-in details for the call attached. Cheers,Al
Most people wouldn't question the legitimacy of this email – it's characteristically laid back and your email browser tells you it is from a trusted contact. But in reality, the attachment is a malicious payload that, if opened, would start rapidly encrypting data and hold your company's files hostage for a $30,000 ransom.
This example is hypothetical, but it's far from impossible. With the emergence of offensive artificial intelligence (AI), we are at the precipice of a new era of email attacks that move away from the low-grade attacks of yesterday, such as that long-lost relative explaining to you in broken English the large sum of inheritance you are owed.
Today, we are moving toward a much mor ..
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