AI Chatbot DeepSeek R1 Can Be Manipulated to Create Malware

Tenable Research reveals that AI chatbot DeepSeek R1 can be manipulated to generate keyloggers and ransomware code. While not fully autonomous, it provides a playground for cybercriminals to refine and exploit its capabilities for malicious purposes.

A new analysis from cybersecurity firm Tenable Research reveals that the open-source AI chatbot DeepSeek R1 can be manipulated to generate malicious software, including keyloggers and ransomware.

Tenable’s research team set out to assess DeepSeek’s ability to create harmful code. They focused on two common types of malware: keyloggers, which secretly record keystrokes, and ransomware, which encrypts files and demands payment for their release.

While the AI chatbot isn’t producing fully functional malware “out of the box,” and requires proper guidance and manual code corrections to produce a fully working keylogger; the research suggests that it could lower the barrier to entry for cybercriminals.

Initially, like other large language models (LLMs ...