'Skynet' Tries to Outwit AI Malware Analysis

This Is Not the Malicious Code You're Looking For, Malware Tells AI Rashmi Ramesh (rashmiramesh_) • July 1, 2025

If you can't outsmart the antivirus, maybe you can sweet-talk the algorithm into looking the other way. Security researchers discovered what appears to be the first known attempt to deploy prompt injection against artificial intelligence-powered malware analysis.

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A malicious program nicknamed "Skynet" tries to persuade language models to stop scanning it and instead find the file harmless. The sample was uploaded to public malware repository VirusTotal, where Check Point analysts noticed an unusual embedded prompt.

Check Point found the file while initially investigating broader questions about how attackers might exploit large language models' capabilities, said Eli Smadja, group manager for products research and development at Check Point.

"When working with our AI analysis reverse engineering pipeline, we noticed that ...