AI tools flood into underground cybercrime markets
TL;DR
Hackers in underground cybercriminal forums are on shopping sprees for new AI tools, according to research shared first with Axios. Why it matters: AI is making once-specialized hacking capabilities cheaper and easier to buy, potentially transforming far more criminals into dangerous hackers. By the numbers: Advertisements for AI tools on underground forums and platforms surged from fewer than 50 per month in late 2025 to more than 1,400 by February, according to a report from Halcyon's Ransomware Research Center.
Nauti's Take
Small teams should first test which internal workflows would be exposed to automated phishing, reconnaissance, or social-engineering attacks. The low prices signal broad availability, yet they do not by themselves prove highly capable attacks.
Run realistic tests against your most important employee and API access paths, then monitor accounts that could be abused at scale.
Sources