AI Is Supercharging Ransomware, Espionage Campaigns, Says Nicholas Butts

Nicholas Butts, Microsoft’s Head of Global AI and Cybersecurity Policy, said AI is making cyber threats more sophisticated, scalable and harder to detect. Citing examples that have affected India, he outlined how cybercriminals and state-backed actors are increasingly weaponising AI for ransomware attacks, espionage and large-scale cybercrime. "But many things remain the same. Where AI is really changing the landscape is what happens after threat actors gain access to systems," Butts said, highlighting four emerging trends. First, Microsoft has tracked a China-based ransomware group known as S