PromptLockMalware
According to ESET Research, PromptLock is first known AI-powered ransomware. PromptLock leverages Lua scripts generated from hard-coded prompts to enumerate the local filesystem, inspect target files, exfiltrate selected data, and perform encryption. These Lua scripts are cross-platform compatible, functioning on Windows, Linux, and macOS.From MISP Galaxy
Last reported 22 days ago, by Help Net Security7 reports
ATT&CK techniques
6 of 15 · each with the sentence it comes from- T1684Social Engineering
“The remote IT worker scheme uses AI for persona development, social engineering and keeping access, and other North Korean groups use it for malware creation and infrastructure management.”
- T1037Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts
“Boot or Logon Initialization Scripts”
- T1041Exfiltration Over C2 Channel
“Exfiltration Over C2 Channel”
- T1053Scheduled Task/Job
“Scheduled task/job: cron”
- T1053.003Cron
“T1053.003”
- T1053.005Scheduled Task
“It kept a foothold with a scheduled task that beaconed to its command-and-control server every 30 minutes.”
Reports per month
last 12 monthsOctober so far (hatched). Counted by report, not by story.
What the reports say
7 reports, newest first · the exact sentence from each-
AI is giving attackers a head start, Microsoft warns“PromptLock, an experimental ransomware prototype, shipped with prompts alone and received Lua scripts at runtime from an open-weights model on attacker infrastructure.”
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La presión sobre la ciberseguridad de las PyMEs: agentes de IA en expansión, amenazas tradicionales en aceleración“Investigadores de ESET documentaron PromptLock, una prueba de concepto considerada el primer ransomware impulsado por IA conocido, y PromptSpy, el primer malware para Android identificado que utiliza IA generativa dentro de su flujo de ejecución.”
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The SMB cybersecurity squeeze: AI agents at work, old attacks in overdrive“For example, ESET researchers have documented PromptLock, a proof of concept that is also the first known AI-powered ransomware, and PromptSpy, the first known Android malware to abuse generative AI in its execution flow.”
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This month in security with Tony Anscombe – July 2026 edition“Before you go, learn about the first AI-powered ransomware, named PromptLock and discovered by ESET researchers last year.”
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The Signs Were There: What the First Autonomous Ransomware Case Confirms“PromptLock, reported by ESET in August 2025, carried the “AI-powered ransomware” label but was an academic proof-of-concept that never ran against a real victim.”
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PromptSpy ushers in the era of Android threats using GenAI“This is the second AI powered malware we have discovered – following PromptLock in August 2025, the first known case of AI-driven ransomware.”
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ESET Threat Report H2 2025“AI-powered malware moved from theory to reality in H2 2025, as ESET discovered PromptLock, the first known AI-driven ransomware, capable of generating malicious scripts on the fly.”
Indicators in its reports
named in the reports above- 45.131.66[.]106in 1 report
- 64.20.53[.]230in 1 report
- 104.21.91[.]170in 1 report
- mgardownload[.]comin 1 report
- mgarg[.]comin 1 report
- m-mgarg[.]comin 1 report
- 54.67.2[.]84in 1 report
- 6bbc9ab132ba066f…d108598bc29bin 1 report
- 375d7423e63c8f5f…97ba25168afain 1 report
- 3978ac5cd14e3573…10cb70a1dcc2in 1 report
- e60d12017d2da579…a0244621ae86in 1 report
- 9b1723284e311794…14eb6014713fin 1 report
- 076801bd9c6eb78f…c73199cc3824in 1 report
- 8364730e9bb2cf3a…38341c0ee2fain 1 report
- f8f4c5bc498bcce9…e8d594629909in 1 report
- c14e9b062ed28115…b47a6ed841acin 1 report
- 52.222.205[.]45in 1 report
Copy these 17 indicators · defanged
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