{"id":209804,"date":"2025-03-17T00:00:41","date_gmt":"2025-03-17T07:00:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/?p=209804"},"modified":"2025-03-17T13:57:34","modified_gmt":"2025-03-17T20:57:34","slug":"deepseek-or-deep-threat-how-hackers-are-using-ai-hype-to-deliver-malware","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.mcafee.com\/blogs\/internet-security\/deepseek-or-deep-threat-how-hackers-are-using-ai-hype-to-deliver-malware\/","title":{"rendered":"Look Before You Leap: Imposter DeepSeek Software Seek Gullible Users"},"content":{"rendered":"

Authored by Aayush Tyagi and M, Mohanasundaram<\/span><\/i>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\n

*Bold = Term Defined in Appendix<\/span><\/b><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

<\/div>\n

In this blog, we discuss how malware authors recently utilized a popular new trend to entice unsuspecting users into installing malware. This blog is meant as a reminder to stay cautious during a hype cycle<\/span>. <\/span>It<\/span>\u2019<\/span>s<\/span> a common <\/span>trap and <\/span>pitfall <\/span>for unassuming consumers.<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Background<\/h2>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Figure 1: <\/span>DeepSeek<\/span> Google Search Trend from 1<\/span><\/span>st<\/span><\/span> January to 7<\/span><\/span>th<\/span><\/span> March<\/span><\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\n
\n
\n
\n

Malware creators frequently exploit trending search terms through hashtags and SEO manipulation to boost visibility and climb search rankings. This tactic, known as SEO poisoning, helps drive traffic to malicious sites, increasing downloads or earning rewards through affiliate programs. Recently, “AI” (Artificial Intelligence) has been one of the most popular keywords leveraged in these scams. Earlier this year, “DeepSeek” also gained traction, even surpassing “Nvidia” at its peak in search interest.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Let\u2019s look at how we got here. Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools are transforming the world at an unprecedented pace, right before our eyes. In recent years, we\u2019ve witnessed remarkable advancements in Generative AI, from the development of highly successful frontier of LLM\u2019s (Large Language Models) such as ChatGPT, Gemini, LLaMA, Grok, etc., to their applications as coding assistants (GitHub Co-pilot or Tabnine), meeting assistants, and voice cloning software among the more popular ones. <\/span><\/p>\n

These tools are pervasive and easily available at your fingertips. In today\u2019s world AI isn\u2019t just a complicated term utilized by select organizations, it’s now adopted by every household in one way or another and is reshaping entire industries and economies. <\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

With the good comes the bad, and unfortunately AI has enabled an accelerated ecosystem of scammers adopting these tools \u2013 examples are:<\/span>\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n