How ESET PROTECT Platform Stops AI-Enhanced Phishing & Credential Theft

When AI becomes a hacker’s weapon

In the past, phishing was often obvious — poorly written emails, awkward language, and easy-to-spot red flags. By 2025, however, this threat has changed dramatically. Rapid advances in artificial intelligence (AI) let attackers produce highly convincing content and forgeries that are increasingly difficult to distinguish from legitimate communications. Phishing has entered a new, more dangerous era: AI-enhanced phishing.

At the same time, credential theft — the stealing of account credentials such as passwords, access tokens, and API keys — remains a primary enabler of more severe attacks, including unauthorized network access, ransomware incidents, and the exfiltration of sensitive data for sale on underground markets.

What is AI-Enhanced Phishing?

AI-enhanced phishing uses AI to generate and tailor text, images, audio, or video that make phishing attacks far more realistic. This includes improving grammar and tone, imitating a specific person’s writing style, or even building fake websites that look indistinguishable from the real thing.

Examples include:

• Emails that convincingly mimic an executive’s writing style and voice, making impersonation hard to spot.
• Deepfake audio or video that instructs staff to transfer funds or disclose sensitive information.
• Fake login pages and web interfaces that copy an organization’s internal systems or a bank’s site — including misleading URLs and identical UI elements.

Credential Theft: Why It’s So Dangerous

Credential theft refers to stealing information used for identity verification—such as usernames, passwords, tokens, or API keys. These stolen credentials can come from various attack methods, including:

• Phishing links that trick users into submitting information on fake websites
• Malware like Stealer that captures credentials stored on a victim’s device
• Data interception from unsecured connections

Once obtained, stolen credentials can be exploited to:

• Access ERP, CRM, or corporate email systems
• Move laterally within an organization’s network (Lateral Movement)
• Launch further attacks, spread ransomware, or sell data on the dark web

2025 Statistics

• Credential theft incidents have increased by 160% in 2025 (Source: ITPro)
• On average, organizations take 94 days to identify a breach caused by stolen credentials
• Over 70% of today’s phishing campaigns already use AI to craft convincing content

AI Hackers’ Tactics

• Personalization at Scale: AI analyzes social media and behavioral data to craft highly personalized phishing messages.
• Multi-channel Attacks: Cybercriminals combine multiple channels—email, chat, SMS, and social media—to deliver coordinated scams.
• Deepfake Leadership: Attackers use fake audio or video impersonations of executives to deceive employees.
• Adaptive Bypass: AI adapts phishing techniques in real-time to evade automated detection and security filters.

Protection with ESET PROTECT PLATFORM

The ESET PROTECT Platform provides complete protection against AI-Enhanced Phishing and Credential Theft, covering every stage of an attack — from email delivery to system compromise.

Threat Type	ESET Feature	Protection Method
Advanced phishing emails	ESET Mail Security	Scans and blocks phishing or spam emails before they reach users
Fake websites	Anti-Phishing + LiveGrid®	Blocks access to fake or infected websites using Cloud Reputation
Stolen or leaked credentials	ESET Secure Authentication (MFA)	Verifies users with multi-factor authentication to prevent logins using stolen passwords
Abnormal user behavior	ESET Inspect (XDR)	Detects and alerts suspicious access or activities in real time
System vulnerabilities	Vulnerability & Patch Management	Finds and fixes weak points before they’re exploited by attackers

ESET PROTECT PLATFORM helps stop AI-Enhanced Phishing and Credential Theft effectively — from before reaching the inbox to after the click and post-incident response.

• Email and link protection: Filters phishing and spam, blocks malicious links and attachments, isolates files in the Cloud Sandbox.
• Endpoint defense: Enhances Anti-Phishing, Web Access Protection, SSL/TLS filtering, HIPS/Exploit Blocker, and Ransomware Shield.
• Credential protection: Uses MFA and RBAC to secure logins and enforce password policies.
• XDR detection and response: ESET Inspect monitors behaviors like credential dumping or HTML smuggling, and isolates or blocks compromised devices automatically.
• Vulnerability management: Closes browser, plugin, and email client gaps to prevent future exploits.

ESET AI-Native: AI-Driven Protection Against Future Cyber Threats

AI is a core element of the ESET PROTECT Platform, powering multiple layers of defense such as the Detection Engine, Cloud Sandbox, Phishing Filter, and XDR (ESET Inspect).

Operating across both Endpoint Security and Cloud Management, ESET’s AI works autonomously to detect, analyze, and block threats through Signature-based and Behavior-based protection mechanisms.

ESET PROTECT: Attack Chain and Defenses

Kill Chain	Attack Technique	ESET Feature for Mitigation
Delivery (Email/Web)	AI-generated phishing, look-alike domains, HTML smuggling, malicious Office/Macro/PDF/JS files	ESET Mail Security (Anti-Spam/Phishing, content & attachment scanning) LiveGuard Advanced (Cloud Sandbox) Anti-Phishing & Web Access Protection powered by LiveGrid® Reputation
Initial Execution	User clicks links or opens malicious files, HTML/JS payloads, Office spawning PowerShell	Exploit Blocker Script & Browser Protection HIPS Advanced Memory Scanner
Credential Theft	Credential stealers (RedLine/Vidar), keylogging, LSASS/DPAPI access, Chrome “Login Data” theft	ESET Inspect (XDR) rules & detections, HIPS blocking process memory access, Network Attack Protection blocking exfil/C2 communication
C2/Exfiltration	Sending passwords/tokens outside the network, DNS-over-HTTPS	Botnet & Network Protection SSL/TLS protocol filtering Firewall
Persistence/Lateral Movement	Creating scheduled tasks, using admin shares, or stolen credentials	ESET Inspect (ATT&CK mapping), RBAC control, and MFA for VPN/OWA/RDP access

Introduction

1. Educate employees to recognize phishing attempts and understand warning signs.
2. Use trusted email and web protection solutions.
3. Enable Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) for all accounts.
4. Monitor unusual login activities through Threat Hunting.
5. Keep software and security patches up to date at all times.

AI-Enhanced Phishing and Credential Theft are no longer distant concerns — they’ve become leading attack trends in 2025, putting every organization at risk. To stay secure, businesses need a well-rounded protection strategy that covers every layer — from filtering malicious emails and blocking fake websites to monitoring system activity in real time.