Someone Created First AI-Powered Ransomware Using OpenAI's gpt-oss:20b Model

ESET has identified a novel AI-powered ransomware variant called PromptLock, which is written in Golang and leverages the open-weight gpt-oss:20b language model from OpenAI via the Ollama API to generate malicious Lua scripts dynamically. This development marks a significant advancement in ransomware capabilities, as it demonstrates the use of sophisticated AI models to produce real-time, adaptive malicious code, potentially increasing the threat's complexity and effectiveness. The integration of open-source AI models into malware underscores emerging cybersecurity challenges, emphasizing the need for enhanced detection and mitigation strategies against AI-driven cyber threats.