AI Email Assistants Could Become Tools for Hackers, Researchers Warn

Cybersecurity researchers have demonstrated a new type of threat involving the AI assistants increasingly built into email platforms. These tools, designed to help users draft messages and manage inboxes, could reportedly be abused by attackers to evade detection while carrying out malicious activity.

According to the research, attackers could exploit these AI features to impersonate trusted employees, compromise executive email accounts, and facilitate financial fraud schemes such as fake invoice requests or wire transfer scams. Because the AI assistant is a trusted, built-in part of the email system, its outputs may bypass traditional security checks that would normally flag suspicious activity, making these attacks harder to detect.

As more businesses adopt AI-powered productivity tools, this research highlights a growing concern: the very features meant to make work easier could also expand the attack surface for cybercriminals. Small and medium businesses using AI-enabled email platforms should be aware that these tools, while convenient, are not immune to exploitation and should be factored into broader security planning.