Cybersecurity researchers have highlighted a new AI ransomware created using DeepSeek, which constructed a new attack path by combining “unrealistic browser malware concepts with a real browser feature,” turning it into a functional ransomware technique that operates entirely within the browser on both Windows and Android devices.
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" This is the first documented case where a groundbreaking AI model independently bridged the gap between a theoretical browser-only ransomware risk and a practical, operational attack chain – revealing a new attack route that defenders had previously dismissed as unfeasible due to browser sandboxing limitations ," Check Point said in a statement.
The identified sample is a Python Flask application named “deepseek_python_20260125_da0631.py” that was uploaded to VirusTotal on January 25, 2026, with Google’s malware scanning service describing it as a “fully functional information-stealing and ransomware tool.” The malware’s author has dubbed it InfernoGrabber v9.0.
The application is designed to operate as a malicious web server that lures victims with a fake Discord AI upscaler avatar, while secretly performing a wide range of harmful actions, including stealing Discord tokens, harvesting credit card numbers and cryptocurrency seed phrases, logging keystrokes, and recording unauthorized camera and microphone streams.
"The code includes specific routines for browser exploitation (targeting CVEs such as CVE-2023-4863), data extraction via a hard-coded Discord webhook, a 'WinLocker' ransomware screen that demands Bitcoin, and an admin panel for the attacker to manage the stolen data," according to VirusTotal.
The findings come as artificial intelligence and large language models (LLMs) are redefining the cyberthreat landscape, allowing malicious actors to abuse the technology to develop malware and exploits. The use of DeepSeek is notable as it signals that the Chinese company’s models have lower denial rates for malicious cyber requests compared to their Western counterparts from Anthropic, Google or OpenAI.
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Other factors that may have facilitated the use of DeepSeek include its free access via its web interface, its availability in regions where other leading-edge models do not work, and its ability to create a functional malicious application from a “broad prompt” unlike models from Anthropic or OpenAI.
"DeepSeek models can transform high-level malicious ideas into specific, full-fledged attacks with less specialization than competing platforms," said Check Point Research.
The Israeli cybersecurity firm said it discovered the Python object as part of an analysis of about 3,000 files attributed to DeepSeek over the past year. Of those, 1,383 samples have been classified as malicious or dangerous. The Python malware is an example of so-called In-Browser Ransomware that implements a browser-native technique that has not been encountered in real-world campaigns before.
The exact prompt used to generate the sample is unknown. The attack technique involves using a deceptive bait to trick a user into granting file system access to a web page, which then lists the local files in the selected folder, reads and extracts their contents, encrypts and overwrites them, and finally displays a ransom note to the victim. What makes it even more unusual is that all of this can be achieved without installing a native payload, exploiting a browser vulnerability, or requiring root access.
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It's worth noting that the approach is limited to web browsers that expose the picker-based File System Access API. This includes Google Chrome and other Chromium-based browsers on Windows and Android operating systems.
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