TL; DR
- Cybercriminals take advantage of artificial intelligence to trick people into downloading malware.
- There has been a 200%-300% increase per month in videos containing malware.
- Hackers also find ways to take over popular YouTube channels to upload their videos.
If you are looking for videos on YoutubeFind tutorial-style videos. Cybercriminals use them to trick viewers into downloading malware.
Specifically, you’ll want to watch tutorial-style videos that claim to teach you how to download cracked versions of paid software like Photoshop, Premiere Pro, AutoCAD, and other licensed products. The latest form of social engineering — a malicious attempt to manipulate someone into doing an action — has seen a 200% to 300% increase month over month, according to the AI cybersecurity firm. cloudsk.
The YouTube videos in question use a screen recording or an audio clip that describes the steps on how to download and install the cracked software. To lend that extra bit of legitimacy, threat actors use platforms like Synthesia and D-ID to create AI-generated avatars that have a face that people feel familiar and trustworthy.
These videos appear to contain links to hacker malware such as Vidar, RedLine, and Raccoon, which are in the description. So if you accidentally click on the link in the description, you may end up downloading malware that steals passwords, credit card information, bank account numbers, and other confidential data.
In addition, you will need to be careful in general because these cyber criminals also find ways to take control of popular YouTube channels. In order to reach as many people as possible, these hackers target channels with 100k or more subscribers to upload their videos. While the uploaded video is usually deleted and the original owners regain access to their channel within hours, that’s still enough time for someone to click on the link.
