AI Slop Isn't Just for Social Media; It's Ruining Cyberattacks, Too
Dark Reading, Thursday, October 15th, 2026
Proofpoint says AI-generated attack chains are making some threat actors worse, and top actors largely avoid AI.
Countering headlines claiming that most ransomware now uses AI, Proofpoint researcher Selena Larson told Dark Reading that AI is making a lot of cyber activity dumber.
Proofpoint highlighted TA4903, a once-sophisticated cybercrime actor whose campaigns have degraded as it leaned on AI-generated attack chains.
Larson pushes back on the narrative that AI is making threat actors better and says the most capable actors are largely staying away from it.
The article notes that AI remains useful to attackers for research and other support tasks, but cautions against vendor and media hype.