Malware uses LLMs to rank victims by how much they're worth

(blog.talosintelligence.com)

82 points | by khalidkhair 2 hours ago

6 comments

  • akersten 24 minutes ago
    This is the kind of stuff that keeps me up at night. Claude, ArtCraft, tons of other auto-downloading tools, are rolling 10'000's of code changes a month. If one compromised update snuck this guy in, it's kind of game over. The windows of opportunity for an attack like this seem to be widening the faster we "develop" software.

    Makes me want to have like 5 separate computers:

    - one for banking only

    - one for development only

    - one for web browsing only

    - one for gaming only

    - one for socials only

    How else can you stay safe against a threat that exfiltrates your entire digital life in like 10 seconds?

    • TuxSH 8 minutes ago
      > threat that exfiltrates

      No need for something new here, Claude Code (Auto + default settings) has a tendency of running "find"/"ls" on your home folder when it struggles with solving a problem. I wish I was joking.

      Now of course people trust these AI companies not to do bad things(tm), but all it takes is replacing the model endpoint URL -or any kind of harness compromise- and nothing will seem amiss

    • bluefirebrand 1 minute ago
      Will this even matter though? As long as these computers are on the same network, AI tools will find a way to get from one to the other if any of them are compromised
    • Jtarii 5 minutes ago
      If there is no way to disable auto-update the application goes in the bin.
      • cherrycherry98 0 minutes ago
        How many CVEs are in the software you're not updating in a timely manner if at all?
    • kungp 19 minutes ago
      I sandbox my dev environment.. hopefully that protects at least a little bit.
    • mr_00ff00 15 minutes ago
      VMs would work pretty well.
    • monlockandkey 5 minutes ago
      100% agree. Developers are playing with fire regarding cookie stealers, malware, data exfiltration.

      Ideal setup:

      - Dev machine

      - Gaming machine (isolate downloading mods)

      - Browsing machine

    • Bluestein 4 minutes ago
      ... but, but, sama says we having his RAM is bad! And now you want 5, not 1 of 'em precious compute receptacles!
    • juleiie 6 minutes ago
      Isn’t this common knowledge that there are computers you use for banking, computers you use for windows 98 and computer you use for gaming?

      For banking I use macOS/linux, sometimes iOS unfortunately but we all do sins

    • realityfactchex 19 minutes ago
      For banking, you can avoid computers and just go in.
      • todowhatexactly 8 minutes ago
        To do.. what exactly? Pay for my bills? I don’t know how it’s setup in your country but in mine that’s not realistic. Everything is handled on the app.
      • gambiting 11 minutes ago
        Lol, you mean like here in the UK where all banks are closing down branches left and right? I think my nearest one is a 45 minute drive away, and last time I went in they just directed me to a terminal that was basically my exact online banking interface and I had to log in the same way I would have done at home. I don't know what kind of query would warrant speaking to an actual teller. If you're regularly sending money or even want to check your balance this cannot be sustainable, would be an enormous waste of time.
    • Shank 13 minutes ago
      I mean this is the basic premise behind QubesOS, but if you add isolation like Qubes wants, it does become very difficult to cross between apps.
    • lofaszvanitt 9 minutes ago
      Maybe consume less sensationalist newsbits :P.
    • ant6n 17 minutes ago
      “ Makes me want to have like 5 separate computers”

      You forgot one.

    • nullsanity 13 minutes ago
      [dead]
  • jumploops 4 minutes ago
    I’ve been thinking about how we’re still in the early days of agents, similar to the early days of the internet, happily opening up our machines and running new protocols.

    Soon (now?) the threats will become ever more complex, and we’ll be back in the early-2000s-like virus storms.

  • quotemstr 0 minutes ago
    Malware authors are also software developers and product managers. It's adorable to see them do the things other software developers and product managers do, just like it's amusing that Osama bin Laden reviewed Al Qaeda expense report.
  • READ_A_BOOK 37 minutes ago
    [dead]
  • thisisauserid 40 minutes ago
    Good. LLMs aren't very good at that.
    • ctxc 9 minutes ago
      What makes you say that? It's good enough
  • riskable 20 minutes ago
    How very considerate! Steal from the rich, not the poor.

    Conversely, don't bother with poor people!

    Now we just need proper Robin Hood malware that "levels out the playing field" as it were, by stealing from the rich and moving that money into the poor people's accounts (that have also been hacked).

    • yonatan8070 3 minutes ago
      I'm just imagining some poor person getting a call about 100,000$ that's been transferred to their account without any idea how or why.