Threat Actors Don't Trust AI Either: ICS Exploits & the Botnet That Waits for Permission | Ep 16

The Threat Intelligence Podcast · Sep 10, 2026 · 18m

Five federal agencies just issued a joint advisory: threat actors are using AI to write exploit scripts targeting the industrial controllers that run water, power, and manufacturing systems.

We break down what the AI is actually doing (disguising reconnaissance, not discovering new vulnerabilities) and why that distinction matters. Then we dig into "Yaks.net v2"—a Linux botnet wired to an AI model that reads telemetry and suggests actions, but still waits for a human to approve anything system-changing.

The pattern across both stories: even threat actors don't fully trust AI to act alone…