Cybercriminals are increasingly using the popularity of artificial intelligence (AI) tools to distribute malicious software, with a sharp increase in AI-themed malware campaigns targeting businesses in early 2026.

As small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) continue to face growing cyber threats driven by social engineering and fake software downloads, malware attacks disguised as AI-related software increased fivefold during the first months of 2026.

According to Kaspersky’s SMB threat landscape, attackers most frequently impersonated ChatGPT, which accounted for 42 percent of detected AI-themed lures. That was followed by Claude at 24 percent and DeepSeek at 20 percent. Most of the identified threats were Trojans designed to steal data, install additional malicious software or compromise infected systems.