AI Helped Build a Self-Propagating WeChat Worm in a Week; Tencent Says It Patched It
peterwildeford · x · 2026-09-09
Per the New York Times, researchers at a security firm used AI to build a self-propagating WeChat worm: answering a call — or even just letting it ring — could infect a phone.
Key facts:
- Built in a little over a week with significant AI assistance;
- Compromises the account, reads and sends messages, makes calls, and auto-spreads to all saved contacts;
- Chained with other bugs, it could have fully compromised the phone;
- Tencent has patched it and says no users were affected. WeChat has 1.4 billion monthly users, nearly all in China.
A stark example of AI collapsing the barrier to building offensive tooling.
Related event: Researchers Built a Self-Spreading WeChat Worm in About a Week Using AI(6 posts)→
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