AI Reports · GovAI (Oxford) · 2026-10-17 · Research paper
Security Spear Phishing with Large Language Models May 2023 Research Paper Julian Hazell This study investigates how LLMs can be used for spear phishing, a form of cybercrime that involves manipulatin
This study examines how LLMs could be misused for spear phishing, a form of cybercrime that manipulates targets into revealing sensitive information. The author finds that LLMs can assist with reconnaissance and email generation, and uses GPT-3.5 and GPT-4 to create tailored messages for over 600 British MPs, which the study finds realistic and cost-effective at a fraction of a cent each. It also shows that basic prompt engineering can circumvent safeguards, and explores structured access schemes such as APIs and LLM-based defensive systems as potential solutions.