AI Cyber Threats Hit 52% of Vietnamese Businesses

AI Cyber Threats Hit 52% of Vietnamese Businesses

A recent Fortinet report reveals that over half of Vietnamese businesses experienced AI-driven cyberattacks in the past year. The rise of automated malware, phishing, and reconnaissance tools is outpacing traditional defenses. While awareness of AI threats is growing, investment in advanced protection remains limited. Read the full story here.

🔍 The Bigger Picture: AI isn’t just transforming business—it’s transforming cybercrime at scale. Nations and organizations that delay AI-capable defenses risk becoming soft targets in an increasingly automated threat landscape.

AI-Driven Attacks Top Cyber Threat List

AI-Driven Attacks Top Cyber Threat List
According to new findings from Meta and Kaspersky, AI-powered attacks now top the list of global cyber threats. From deepfake campaigns to AI-generated phishing scams, threat actors are using generative tools to bypass traditional detection. Social engineering, identity spoofing, and misinformation are increasingly driven by large language models. Read the full story here.

🔍 The Bigger Picture:
AI isn’t just enhancing productivity—it’s supercharging cyberattacks. As threat actors adopt the same tools as defenders, staying secure will depend on AI-informed defenses and digital literacy at every level.

F5 Acquires Fletch to Boost Agentic AI in Cybersecurity

F5 Acquires Fletch to Boost Agentic AI in Cybersecurity
F5 Networks has acquired cybersecurity startup Fletch to enhance its agentic AI capabilities—AI that can take autonomous actions in threat detection and response. Fletch is known for using natural language interfaces and machine learning to summarize emerging threats in real time. This acquisition signals F5’s push to bring AI-driven decision-making to frontline cyber defense. Read the full story here.

🔍 The Bigger Picture:
The future of cybersecurity isn’t just automated—it’s intelligent and proactive. Agentic AI promises faster response times, reduced analyst fatigue, and smarter systems that adapt to threats without waiting for human input.

🕵️‍♂️ Featured Insight: Phishing Emails Are Getting an AI Upgrade

Cybercriminals are now using AI to craft phishing emails that are more convincing than ever—complete with proper grammar, accurate branding, and even personalized details scraped from public profiles.

What’s changing:

AI models generate flawless, human-like emails in seconds

Attackers use LinkedIn, social media, and leaked data to personalize messages

Phishing kits now include AI-generated websites and spoofed login pages

Why it’s dangerous: These emails look legit at first glance—and sometimes even on the second. They're harder to spot, even for trained users, which means higher click-through and compromise rates.

How to fight back:

Use AI-powered email filters to flag suspicious patterns

Train teams to verify requests through a second channel

Paste suspicious messages into ChatGPT and ask:

  “Is this a phishing attempt? Explain why.”

⚙️ TOOL OF THE WEEK

CyberChef + ChatGPT = Decode, Decrypt, Defend

🛠️ What it does:
CyberChef is a free, open-source web app known as the “cyber Swiss Army knife.” Created by GCHQ, it lets you perform complex data transformations—like encoding, decoding, encryption, decryption, and forensic analysis—through a simple drag-and-drop interface.

🔍 Use Cases:

• Decode hidden strings in suspicious files

• Analyze malware obfuscation techniques

• Convert data formats (e.g., hex to ASCII)

• Extract EXIF data from images

• Hash and verify passwords

💡 Pro Tip:
Use ChatGPT alongside CyberChef to better understand your data:

🎓 Cert Corner – Security+ Tip of the Week

🔐 Hashing vs. Encryption

Why it matters:
Both hashing and encryption protect data—but they serve different purposes. Knowing when and how to use each is key to understanding secure communication, data integrity, and malware analysis.

How it works:

• Encryption: Converts data into unreadable form using a key, and can be reversed (decrypted)

• Hashing: Converts data into a fixed-length string using an algorithm and cannot be reversed

Real-world example:
When you store passwords securely, you hash them so they can’t be recovered even if breached. When you send a secure message, you encrypt it so only the receiver can read it.

🧪 Try it yourself:
Use CyberChef to hash a password (e.g., SHA-256) and see how it changes even if you tweak one character.

Quote of the Week

"Data is the new gold—protect it like your future depends on it."

Thanks for reading,

Nick Javaid-Founder ThinkLayer.ai

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