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An actor using the handle Optimus_Prime advertised the subscription-based Luciferus AI service on the Exploit hacking forum as an unrestricted alternative to jailbreaking mainstream models such as ChatGPT and Claude. The service claims to run a proprietary 120-billion-parameter model, though Sophos Counter Threat Unit researchers assessed with low confidence that it may instead use Alibaba’s open-source Qwen model family. Its advertised tiers and pricing differ between the forum post and associated website.
Luciferus offers paid access ranging from a Junior tier to bespoke VIP deployments with isolated infrastructure, customer-data training, dedicated compute, and configurable settings. When researchers asked the Junior tier for a Python remote-access trojan, it generated a Russian-language explanation and code for networking and command execution; the researchers did not execute or validate the output. The offering reflects the growing commercialization of minimally restricted AI services that can lower barriers for phishing, business-email compromise, malicious scripting, and malware development.
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Optimus_Prime advertised Luciferus as a paid AI service that would answer requests without moral or ethical restrictions. The advertisement claimed a proprietary 120-billion-parameter model and offered subscription tiers plus an isolated, customer-trained VIP deployment option.
The persona later advertising Luciferus, Optimus_Prime, joined the Exploit forum and was labeled as a coding/coder account.
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Security researchers reported that cybercriminals are increasingly commercializing offensive AI services, with one Russian-speaking actor, **Trim**, turning jailbreak techniques for Anthropic Claude into a paid penetration-testing platform. According to Cato CTRL, Trim first shared methods such as **Context Warming** and **Ghost Reset** to bypass Claude Opus safety controls, then later advertised **AI Pentest Checker**, a service that allegedly used a grey-market Claude API key obtained via Telegram. The platform reportedly combined jailbroken Claude Opus 4.8 and **GLM-5** with established tools including **Nuclei**, **ffuf**, **katana**, and **gitleaks** to automate web vulnerability scanning and generate PDF reports in minutes. A separate report from Trellix said another service, **MessiahGPT**, is being marketed on BreachForums and Telegram as an uncensored black-hat AI platform capable of generating ransomware, phishing kits, stealers, crypters, and rootkits on demand. The service reportedly offers free trial queries and low-cost cryptocurrency subscriptions without KYC, while similar offerings such as **DarkGPT** are also circulating in Russian-language channels. Researchers said the emergence of these tools shows that criminal **AI-as-a-service** is maturing into a commercial market, lowering barriers for attackers and likely increasing the volume of AI-assisted phishing, malware development, and automated reconnaissance.
Aug 21, 2026
Underground operators are increasingly packaging generative AI into **criminal AI-as-a-service** offerings that support phishing, fraud, impersonation, malware modification, translation, and post-breach data analysis. Reporting on the market describes branded tools such as **FraudGPT**, **GhostGPT**, and **WormGPT**, but says many are little more than wrappers around legitimate models, stolen accounts, or hijacked API keys rather than fully autonomous hacking platforms. Researchers also highlighted a parallel market for deepfake-enabled abuse, including voice cloning, face swaps, fake selfies, and virtual camera injection used for KYC bypass, synthetic identity fraud, and onboarding scams. Sophos separately identified a malware development lab using AI tools including **Cursor** and **Claude Opus** to speed ransomware-related coding, payload refinement, and evasion testing. The framework reportedly generated Python-driven Rust and Go malware modules, customized **Cobalt Strike** profiles, Telegram-based command channels, Cloudflare Worker intermediaries for command-and-control traffic, code-injection scripts targeting legitimate Windows applications, and AI-assisted Active Directory reconnaissance. Researchers said the operation tested nearly 80 modules against more than 70 evasion methods across Sophos, CrowdStrike, and Microsoft defenses, reinforcing that the immediate risk is not autonomous AI malware but faster, cheaper, and more scalable attacker workflows.
Jun 29, 2026
A Russian-speaking threat actor using the handle **Trim** reportedly bypassed safety controls on public frontier AI models and turned the resulting jailbreak methods into an offensive cyber platform. Researchers said Trim first posted a guide on a Russian-language cybercrime forum in March describing six techniques for coercing Anthropic Claude Opus into generating malicious outputs, while also naming fallback models and offering access to black-market API keys. The activity did not rely on exploiting software flaws in the models themselves; instead, it abused public API access, leaked system prompts, and prompt-engineering techniques to defeat guardrails. By June, Trim had allegedly commercialized the approach as **AI Pentest Checker**, a service that automates web reconnaissance, vulnerability validation, exploitation reporting, and PDF report generation. The platform reportedly combined AI models including **Opus 4.8** and **GLM-5** with established offensive tools such as `Nuclei`, `ffuf`, `katana`, `subfinder`, and `gitleaks`, with one modified system prompt said to be derived from a leaked **Fable 5** configuration. Researchers warned the case shows how quickly cybercriminals can operationalize and monetize AI-assisted offensive workflows, increasing the speed and accessibility of attack capabilities.
Jul 23, 2026