Threat Detection Technology SlashNext has reported that in the 12 months that ChatGPT’s been publicly available, the number of phishing emails has jumped 1,265 per cent, with credential phishing, a common first step in data breaches, seeing a 967 per cent increase.

SlashNext’s State of Phishing 2023 report notes that cybercriminals may have been leveraging LLM chatbots like ChatGPT to help write more convincing phishing emails and to launch highly targeted phishing attacks. Generative AI chatbots may also have lowered the barriers for any bad actors wanting to launch such campaigns (i.e. by giving less skilled cyber criminals the tools to run more complex phishing attacks).

Businesses can safeguard against phishing attacks by taking measures such as educating employees to recognise fraudulent communications, enforcing strong password policies, using MFA, keeping software up-to-date and installing anti-phishing tools, and by having an effective incident response plan to mitigate damage from breaches.