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AI voice phishing targets major hedge funds, expands into vishing
Hedge funds including Point72 and Millennium said they were hit by attempts, while Two Sigma said its security team stopped an intrusion before any systems or data were compromised.
A wave of attempted break-ins at major hedge funds has used AI-generated voices to impersonate employees and pressure staff into granting access, a development that is also drawing attention from insurers underwriting and responding to cyber incidents, according to Insurance Business.
Point72 Asset Management told investors it was hit by hackers, with early indications suggesting no client data was taken, Bloomberg reported. The same campaign also attempted to breach systems at Millennium Management, Two Sigma Investments and Citadel, along with several private equity firms, Reuters and Bloomberg reported, and companies including Millennium, Point72 and Citadel declined to comment on the record.
Two Sigma, which manages roughly $75 billion, said its security team caught the intrusion attempt before any systems or data were compromised. Investigators described the technique as vishing, where attackers use AI tools to clone a real employee or executive's voice and speaking patterns to bypass colleagues on the phone.
Insurance Business also highlighted efforts by JPMorgan Chase chief executive Jamie Dimon, who has been personally contacting banks, insurers, utilities and telecoms firms to join an industry group aimed at getting ahead of AI-driven threats. Align Managed Services president Vinod Paul said generative AI allows attackers to scale from targeting dozens of organizations manually to going after a thousand cheaply, and cybersecurity consultants said AI is making attacks quicker and more accessible beyond hedge funds.