Police flag the use of AI by criminals

Hong Kong police are issuing a warning that criminals are increasingly turning to artificial intelligence to commit technology-related crimes, resulting in an 18 percent year-on-year rise in ransomware cases during the first three quarters of the year. Although there has been a 12 percent overall decline in tech crimes to 21,573 cases, the total losses have dropped by 15 percent to nearly HK$3.9 billion.

Chief Superintendent Raymond Lam, from the Cyber Security and Technology Crime Bureau, explained that criminals are leveraging agentic AI – autonomous systems capable of executing tasks with minimal human intervention – to expedite attack kill chains, including system scanning, vulnerability scanning, penetration, and other forms of cyberattacks.

These AI-powered tools enhance the speed, volume, and intrusiveness of attacks, making them more effective. Police officials attribute the surge in reconnaissance and phishing attacks before ransomware launches to the use of AI. To address the growing challenge, Hong Kong police have joined Interpol's first year-long AI-powered cyber operation targeting potential phishing and fraudulent links.

Leveraging an AI-analysis engine created by the police, officers can identify and block risky websites before they reach more people. Enrique Hernandez-Gonzalez, Assistant Director of Cybercrime Operations at Interpol's Cybercrime Directorate, noted that the intelligence shared with 47 jurisdictions resulted in 90 percent of the roughly 57,000 investigated links becoming inaccessible.

The second phase of the operation, involving more than 20 jurisdictions across five continents, began last month.