Humans are still king when it comes to writing convincing phishing emails—but generative AI tools could be making it easier for attackers to automate customized phishing campaigns at scale.

Large language models (LLMs) like Google Bard or ChatGPT allow operators to mix scraped data into generated text, with the Wall Street Journal recently reporting that cybercriminals are using them to personalize phishing lures and avoid common red flags like spelling and grammar mistakes. Recent research by security firm SlashNext has shown threat actors are also developing custom LLMs to fuel business email compromise.

Chatter on cybercrime forums about AI has picked up significantly, SlashNext researchers found, and at least one tool called “WormGPT” is already being advertised as a paid service.

WormGPT is built on GPT-J, an open-source LLM that can be run by anyone. While it’s not as powerful as enterprise tools like ChatGPT, it also doesn’t have any built-in protections against abuse, SlashNext CEO Patrick Harr told IT Brew.

“In this case, it’s a free-for-all,” Harr said. “Those guardrails are not in place.”

Keep reading here.—TM

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Israel is at war with Hamas after the group attacked civilians and security forces earlier this month; at least 1,400 people in Israel were killed in the initial Oct. 7 attack, and more than 2,800 have been killed and 10,000 injured in Gaza since the conflict began, according to the New York Times.

Israel’s flagship tech industry, while a small portion of the many people affected by the ongoing violence, accounts for one-fifth of its GDP and employs 14% of its workforce. And it’s been feeling the effects of the upheaval: Startup employees and founders are among the 360,000 military reservists that have been called up for active duty.

Some companies have seen as much as half of their employees reporting for duty, according to Eric Reiner, founder and managing partner of Vine Ventures, who spoke with the Wall Street Journal. Earlier-stage companies are more likely to be affected because their workers tend to be younger—and consequently more likely to get mobilized, Roy Glasberg, of the venture firm AnD Ventures, told the newspaper.

Doron Tamir, the co-founder and CEO of Tel-Aviv-based experimental waste heat engine startup Luminescent Heat Engine, shared with Tech Brew last week that 30% of his staff has been summoned for duty. Operations are slower, he said, and some key tasks can’t be completed in employees’ absence.

On top of that, there’s the atmosphere: “It’s impossible to work,” Tamir said.

Keep reading here.—SK

Healthcare Brew chatted with Dhruv Suyamprakasam, the founder, CEO, and director of global digital health platform iCliniq. Billed as a “medical second opinion” platform, iCliniq lets users ask specific questions about their health and virtually connects them with medical providers.

Suyamprakasam shared some insight on how new technologies and capabilities, including artificial intelligence, are shaping the future of healthcare delivery.

This interview has been lightly edited for length and clarity.

What opportunities do you see for iCliniq to work with AI or the next generation of technology?

I’m really fascinated with the whole AI technology. We have this approach called “AI as an ally.” We don’t look at AI as something which is dangerous, or which is completely against the work of a doctor. We use several AI things in the ecosystem of the platform to help doctors answer queries, to help our team work faster, and to help patients earlier.

Keep reading here.—SY