AI Is Making Cybercrime Faster, Warns ESET Ireland

ESET Ireland, the exclusive Irish distributor of global digital security company ESET, has issued a warning that criminals are increasingly using AI tools to accelerate cyberattacks, lowering the bar for causing serious damage to organisations.

The warning follows public reporting this week of a case in which an attacker used an AI chatbot to support attacks on government systems, using it to identify weaknesses and speed up scripting and automation.

ESET Ireland says the concern is not where the attack happened, but how it was carried out.

George Foley, spokesperson for ESET Ireland, said:

"This is what's changing. The grunt work is getting easier to industrialise. If a criminal can use an AI tool to move faster, iterate faster and automate more, the gap between 'trying it' and 'doing damage' gets smaller."

He was keen to avoid alarmism, however, noting that AI is not a master key for cybercriminals.

Foley added:

"AI doesn't magically break into networks. The usual doors still matter, weak passwords, excessive access, unpatched systems, people clicking what they shouldn't. AI just helps attackers work through those opportunities at speed."

ESET Research has previously reported on PromptLock, a ransomware variant that uses generative AI as part of its execution, offering a real-world example of AI misuse moving from theory into practice.

The warning comes as more Irish organisations face board-level accountability for cybersecurity under the EU's NIS2 framework.

Foley said the organisations best placed to cope are those with clear ownership and basic controls already in place.

Foley said:

"Who can access what. Who approves changes. Who gets alerted when data starts moving in ways it shouldn't. And who runs the response when something goes wrong."

His recommended priorities for organisations are practical: tighten identity and access controls, reduce admin privileges, patch known vulnerabilities quickly, monitor for unusual data movement, and ensure staff can recognise modern phishing and social engineering tactics.

Further information is available at www.eset.com/ie.