Cybercrime is no longer just a shady activity carried out by lone hackers. It’s now operating like a full-blown business ecosystem. Botnet as a service, phishing as a service, even ransomware kits that you can simply subscribe to. Everything is packaged, priced, and supported just like a legitimate company would offer. The only difference is that the end customer is an organized crime group.
And with AI becoming mainstream, attackers are taking full advantage of it.
We’re now seeing a wave of AI-enabled crime services and tools. FraudGPT, deepfake generators, WormGPT, malicious chatbots, and even non-malicious apps like ElevenLabs are being misused for voice cloning and impersonation. On top of that are AutoExploit tools that use AI to rapidly find and develop new exploits. It’s all becoming incredibly sophisticated at a very fast pace.
This is exactly why defenders need AI on their side too.
Modern security can’t rely on manual reaction anymore. It has to be smarter and more adaptive. Organizations need systems that can prevent, validate, respond, and continuously improve in real time.
According to Fortinet at their 2025 Media briefing in Manila Philippines, this trend of using AI-powered criminal tools isn’t going to disappear. Instead of some brand new attack method shaking up the landscape, 2026 is more likely to bring refined, more capable versions of what’s already working for cybercriminals. But what will be new is the rise of purpose-built autonomous cybercrime management systems, making attacks even more automated and scalable.
On the defense side, Fortinet says it’s pushing just as aggressively. The company highlights its FortiAI-Assist, powered by over 500 patents, trained on trillions of events, and supported by a global network of 6 million firewalls. The goal is simple and that is to use AI to counter AI-driven threats.
Cybercrime is fast evolving. The only realistic way forward is to evolve even faster.
