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You usually cannot tell reliably whether a phishing message was written by AI. Instead, judge the request: check who sent it, where its links lead, whether the timing and context make sense, and whether you can verify the instruction through a separate, trusted channel. If you have already clicked, downloaded a file, shared credentials, or transferred money, report it promptly and take steps that match what happened.

How can you spot an AI-powered phishing attempt?

AI can help attackers produce polished, personalized messages, but smooth writing is not proof that a message is legitimate. NIST’s phishing guidance, updated August 19, 2025, recommends extra scrutiny when a message asks you to click a link, download a file, transfer money, log in, or submit sensitive information. There is no validated general-purpose test in that guidance for identifying whether a particular message was written by AI.

Assess the request, sender, and context

  • Action: Be cautious about unexpected links, attachments, payment instructions, login requests, or requests for account or personal information.
  • Pressure: Urgency or threats that push you to act immediately are reasons to pause, especially when the action is consequential.
  • Identity: Check the sender address, not only the display name. An unfamiliar or suspicious address is a warning cue, though a familiar-looking name alone does not establish legitimacy.
  • Context: Ask whether you expected the message and whether its request fits the normal process. A boss or vendor asking for an urgent payment change deserves independent verification.
  • Destination: Before following a link, check whether its destination makes sense for the organization and request. If you are unsure, navigate to the company’s public website yourself rather than using the message’s link.

Verify high-impact instructions independently

Use contact information you already trust, such as a known phone number or the organization’s public website—not a phone number, reply address, or link supplied in the suspicious message. Confirm the person’s identity and the request before acting. Apply the same principle to texts, phone calls, social-media messages, and postal mail: independently verify identity and intent before following a consequential instruction.

What should you do with a suspicious message?

If you have not interacted with it

  1. Do not reply, click a link, open an attachment, or use an unsubscribe link in the suspicious message.
  2. Report it through your organization’s established phishing-reporting channel, if there is one. Follow that process before deleting the message.
  3. If you do not have an organizational process, use the relevant service or organization’s reporting channel. NIST also points to the FBI Internet Crime Complaint Center for phishing crimes.

If you clicked or downloaded something

Tell your organization promptly and follow its incident-response process. Report what you clicked or downloaded and when; do not assume that clicking alone proves an account or device was compromised. The organization should assess which systems and people may be affected and decide on technical containment based on the evidence, its systems, and its policies.

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If you entered a password or other credentials

Change the affected password as soon as possible, and change it on any other account where you reused it. Use a unique, strong password for each account. Notify the relevant organization so it can assess the account and respond. If you can no longer access the account, use its official account-recovery process.

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If personal or organizational information may have been exposed

Tell the appropriate people in your organization so they can assess the information involved, the affected systems and individuals, and any notification obligations. Notify affected customers, suppliers, or others as appropriate under the organization’s applicable requirements and response plan.

How should an organization contain and investigate a phishing incident?

Use the incident-response plan rather than treating every report as the same technical emergency. NIST SP 800-61 Rev. 3, published in April 2025, supersedes Rev. 2 and places incident-response considerations throughout cybersecurity risk management, aligned with CSF 2.0.

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  1. Assign an incident lead. Make clear who coordinates the initial response and who is responsible for relevant security, IT, communications, legal, or business decisions.
  2. Collect the initial reports and evidence. Record what recipients saw and did, when it happened, and which accounts or systems may be involved. Preserve relevant information using the organization’s established procedures.
  3. Determine the possible scope. Identify potentially affected people, mailboxes, accounts, devices, data, and business processes. Reassess as new information emerges.
  4. Investigate controls and root cause. Examine the message and how it reached recipients, including whether email filtering or identity controls failed. If a filter is implicated, include that in the investigation rather than assuming that user training alone explains the incident.
  5. Choose containment and recovery actions based on evidence. Mailbox searches or message removal, session revocation, endpoint isolation, and external notifications may be appropriate in some incidents, but the right actions depend on the systems, evidence, and organizational policy.

CISA’s tabletop exercise material prompts organizations to consider employee reporting, incident-information collection, investigation leadership, and root-cause analysis when an email-filter system is involved. That makes it useful for rehearsing responsibilities and decisions; it does not establish one universal technical containment sequence.

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How can a business reduce the risk of AI-enabled phishing?

Layer controls so that a convincing message is less likely to reach employees, less likely to be mistaken for an authenticated sender, and less able to cause harm if someone acts on it. These measures reduce risk; they do not guarantee that every phishing message will be stopped.

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Harden email and identity controls

  • Use configurable email filters to identify and handle suspicious messages.
  • Configure email-authentication technologies that help verify message origin and reject spoofed messages. CISA’s surfaced guidance names SPF, DKIM, and DMARC.
  • Enable multifactor authentication (MFA), with phishing-resistant MFA as the stronger option. CISA’s surfaced guidance specifically names FIDO authentication; confirm compatibility with the organization’s accounts and devices before adopting a particular implementation.

Make reporting and training part of the workflow

  • Teach employees to question unexpected high-impact requests and to report suspicious messages through a clear, established channel.
  • Make the reporting route easy to find and ensure employees know what to do after clicking, opening a file, or entering credentials.
  • Use NIST’s Phish Scale Technical Note 2276 to help awareness-training practitioners rate how difficult an email is for people to detect. It is a training-calibration tool, not an AI-authorship detector.

Build and exercise an incident-response plan

Use NIST SP 800-61 Rev. 3 as a current baseline for incorporating preparation, detection, response, and recovery into risk management. Exercise how reports are collected, who leads investigations, how a suspected filter or identity-control failure is assessed, and how the organization determines whether others are affected.

CISA announced its JCDC AI Cybersecurity Collaboration Playbook and Fact Sheet on January 14, 2025, describing voluntary information-sharing processes concerning AI-related cyber risks, incidents, and vulnerabilities. Organizations can consider appropriate information-sharing channels as part of their own incident-response and information-sharing processes.

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