October 24, 2023 at 01:03PM
AI-generated phishing emails have the potential to be more damaging in the future, but currently human social engineering is more effective, according to a study conducted by IBM’s X-Force Red. While AI can produce phishing emails faster, humans have an advantage in emotional intelligence, personalization, and creating compelling narratives. The study found that AI achieved an 11% click rate compared to 14% for humans. As AI improves and gains access to more data, the effectiveness of AI phishing could increase.
The meeting notes discuss the topic of AI-generated phishing emails and compare their effectiveness to human-generated phishing emails. The investigation showed that AI can create phishing emails much faster than humans but that human social engineering is currently more effective than AI phishing. Factors such as emotional intelligence, personalization, and effective headlines contribute to the success of human phishing attempts. However, the results of the investigation were close, with the AI phish achieving a click rate of 11% and the human phish achieving a click rate of 14%. Additionally, 59% of the AI emails and 52% of the human emails were reported as suspicious. The meeting notes also raise questions about the potential for AI to improve in the future and the possibility of criminal AI incorporating stolen personal data for highly personalized spear-phishing attacks. The overall takeaway from the study is to consider the future implications of improving AI technology in the context of phishing attacks.