AI Malware Worm Adapts to New Targets in Real Time, Cybersecurity Experts Say

Source Domain: tech.yahoo.com

Advances in AI agents may be opening the door to a new cybersecurity threat: adaptive computer worms capable of generating attack strategies on the fly and spreading autonomously across networks, new research warns.

The paper, from researchers at the University of Toronto, Vector Institute, University of Cambridge, and ServiceNow, describes a proof-of-concept AI-powered worm that can identify vulnerabilities, devise tailored attack paths, compromise systems, and replicate itself across a network while adapting its tactics to different targets.

“We must prepare for autonomous generative adversaries,” the researchers wrote. “Malware systems that propagate without human operators and are defined not by fixed exploit code, but by the capacity to reason about targets, adapt to observations, and synthesize attack logic in real time.”

A computer worm is self-replicating malware that spreads automatically across vulnerable networks. Worm outbreaks, including the ILOVEYOU malware in 2000 and WannaCry in 2017, infected millions of computers worldwide, disrupting critical services and causing billions of dollars in damage.

More recently, the Shai-Hulud malware showed how self-propagating attacks can spread online, infecting software used by major companies, including OpenAI and Mistral.

According to the new study, researchers say what sets their AI-powered worm apart from earlier versions is its ability to adapt to different targets, using a large language model to identify vulnerabilities and generate attack strategies in real time rather than relying on a fixed set of exploits.

“Traditional worms, like WannaCry, exploited predetermined vulnerabilities, and their spread can be halted by patching those vulnerabilities,” they wrote. “Here we show that artificial intelligence agents enable a fundamentally new threat: a worm that generates tailored attack strategies to each target it encounters.”

In the study, the team tested the…

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