In the shadowy realm of cybercrime, DarkBard has emerged as a significant player, representing a crossover into non-OpenAI territory. As its name suggests, DarkBard is modeled as the dark counterpart to Google’s Bard artificial intelligence (AI). This tool surfaced in mid-2023, riding the same wave that brought other malicious AI tools like FraudGPT and WormGPT to prominence. Notably, the cybercriminal seller known as “CanadianKingpin,” who launched FraudGPT, also advertised DarkBard on dark web forums and Telegram channels.
Capabilities of DarkBard
Cybercriminals pitch DarkBard as “the evil twin of Google’s Bard,” emphasizing its versatility as a real-time malicious AI. It actively processes live data from the open web, mirroring Bard’s own capabilities. This functionality enhances its adaptability and context-awareness in attacks, allowing DarkBard to incorporate the latest news or target-specific information into phishing content or scams, making it a powerful tool for social engineering.
The advertised feature set of DarkBard is extensive. Reportedly, it can generate misinformation and fake content, produce deepfakes or facilitate their creation, handle multilingual communications, and generate a wide range of outputs, from code to lengthy articles. Uniquely, DarkBard integrates with image analysis tools like Google Lens to support image-based tasks. Cybercriminals designed it to leverage these capabilities for more dynamic and targeted operations.
In practical terms, this means DarkBard could write phishing emails in multiple languages, create malicious code, draft convincing fake news releases, and even analyze or generate images — to help bypass CAPTCHA or create fake identification documents, for example. This all-in-one range of capabilities positions DarkBard as a Swiss Army knife for cybercriminals, effectively serving as a full-spectrum AI co-conspirator that can aid in everything from technical hacking to influence campaigns.
Promotion and pricing
DarkBard was marketed as part of a suite of AI tools sold by CanadianKingpin in 2023. Alongside FraudGPT and “DarkBERT,” DarkBard was offered through a Telegram channel and forum posts under a subscription model. According to threat intelligence reports, pricing for DarkBard started at around $100 per month, with options for a lifetime license priced up to $1,000. This pricing strategy positioned DarkBard as a mid-to-high tier product within the lineup, slightly cheaper than DarkBERT but more expensive than FraudGPT.
DarkBard’s marketing emphasized its positioning as Bard without limits, stripping away ethical safeguards. This pitch appealed to criminals seeking Google’s AI power without the restrictions. Cybercriminals posted advertisements on various forums and actively promoted these AI tools through a Telegram group called “TheCashFlowCartel.” DarkBard’s visual branding was less public, likely because it circulated through the same underground channels as FraudGPT. However, cybercrime service ads appeared to emphasize its capabilities, such as identifying leaks and vulnerabilities. DarkBard uses Bard’s underlying infrastructure to enable real-time monitoring of websites and markets. Cybercriminals marketed it as Bard, supercharged for malicious purposes.
Real-world use and updates
It’s crucial to note that, like FraudGPT, DarkBard may not have fully delivered on its promises. By late 2023, CanadianKingpin’s ventures fell silent, with their Telegram channels closed, and forum posts removed, hinting at a possible exit scam or strategic retreat. Authorities have not directly linked DarkBard to specific cyberattacks, which suggests that threat actors may be using it sparingly or with deliberate stealth.
However, the concept of DarkBard remains highly relevant. The idea of leveraging real-time AI for cybercrime began to materialize in other forms in 2024. For instance, attackers actively pair language models with web-scraping techniques to craft timely phishing emails that reference recent news or corporate announcements. They use this combination to increase credibility and urgency in their messages. DarkBard’s proposed features align closely with these tactics.
Surveys of security leaders in 2024 revealed growing concerns about AI-powered misinformation and deepfakes targeting enterprises, with 20 percent of organizations identifying malicious AI by cybercriminals as the single greatest threat on the horizon. While DarkBard itself may not have become the go-to criminal AI, it symbolized the next evolution in cybercrime: integrating live, internet-connected AI into the toolkit of malicious actors.
As we move through 2025, defenders should anticipate phishing and fraud schemes that evolve in near real time, drawing directly from real-world data. DarkBard pioneered this kind of adaptive capability.
Conclusion
DarkBard exemplifies the potential dangers of generative AI when wielded by cybercriminals. As we continue this series, we will next explore PoisonGPT, a tool that highlights the darker applications of generative AI for disinformation. Organizations face a rising tide of AI-driven threats that demand proactive, strategic defense. To fortify their security posture, it is essential they understand both the tools available and the broader implications of their use. Stay tuned for our next post, where we will delve into PoisonGPT and its role in the landscape of malicious AI.
This article was originally published at Barracuda Blog.
Photo: 3asy60lf / Shutterstock
