AI Powers Automated Social Engineering Attacks
Miguel Fornés, Governance and Compliance Manager at Surfshark, says in a Help Net Security video on February 10, 2026 that AI is automating social engineering attacks. He explains tasks that once took weeks—research and targeting—are now rapid and cheap as attackers use AI agents to collect open-source data and conduct live conversations without human involvement. This lowers attacker skill and cost and erodes trust in calls, messages, and meetings.
Key Points
- 1Automates research and targeting, reducing weeks-long tasks to cheap, rapid processes
- 2Enables AI agents to gather open-source data and conduct live conversations without humans
- 3Lowers attacker skill and cost, increasing phishing volume and eroding communications trust
Scoring Rationale
Timely industry-wide alert on AI-enabled phishing, limited by single-source commentary and shallow technical detail in a Help Net Security video.
Sources
Public references used for this report.
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