How Are Cybercriminals Bypassing Multi-Factor Authentication with AI?

Introduction: The AI Skeleton Key

We were told that Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) was the digital equivalent of a bank vault door—the definitive security upgrade that would stop attackers in their tracks. For years, this was largely true. But in 2025, a new generation of cybercriminals, armed with Artificial Intelligence, has crafted a skeleton key. They aren't trying to brute-force the lock; they're using AI to master the art of tricking the person holding the key. It's crucial to understand that attackers aren't "breaking" MFA's encryption, they are using AI to bypass the human-in-the-loop with a level of sophistication and scale that was previously unimaginable. By automating real-time phishing, deploying deepfake voices, and orchestrating intelligent "MFA fatigue" campaigns, AI is turning our strongest defense into just another obstacle to overcome.

The Primary Target: Exploiting Human-Centric MFA

The first thing to know is that not all MFA is created equal. AI-powered bypass attacks are almost exclusively focused on the most common and convenient forms of MFA—the ones that ultimately rely on a human to make a security decision. The algorithms themselves are secure, but the implementation methods have weaknesses that AI is perfectly designed to exploit.

The primary targets are:

• One-Time Passwords (OTPs) from SMS or Email: These are codes sent to you that you then have to re-enter. The weakness here is that the code itself can be phished. An attacker just needs to trick you into typing that code into their fake website instead of the real one.
• Push Notifications from Authenticator Apps: This is the simple "Was this you? Approve/Deny" pop-up. Its weakness is the human tendency to get tired of seeing these notifications. An attacker can bombard a user with these prompts until, out of annoyance or confusion, they just tap "Approve." This is called MFA Fatigue.

AI doesn't break the code; it breaks the person. It makes the phishing emails more convincing and the social engineering more potent, turning these human-centric MFA methods into the path of least resistance for an attacker.

The AitM Attack on Autopilot: Stealing the Session, Not Just the Code

The most devastating technical bypass for MFA is the Adversary-in-the-Middle (AitM) attack, which AI has now put on autopilot. In this attack, the attacker's ultimate goal is not to steal your temporary OTP code, but to steal your session token—the digital "pass" your browser gets after you've successfully logged in, which keeps you logged in without having to re-authenticate for a period of time.

Here's how the AI-powered version works in 2025:

1. An AI crafts a flawless, personalized phishing email that directs a user to a login page.
2. This page is not a simple fake copy. It is an attacker-controlled proxy server that is a perfect, real-time mirror of the actual website (like office.com or your company's portal).
3. The user, seeing a perfect site, enters their username and password. The attacker's server instantly passes this information to the real website.
4. The real website, seeing the correct password, sends a legitimate MFA prompt (like an OTP via SMS) to the user's phone.
5. The user receives the code and enters it into the attacker's proxy site.
6. The attacker's site uses that code to complete the login on the user's behalf on the real site and, in that final step, intercepts and steals the valuable session token.

With that stolen token, the attacker can now access the user's account from their own machine, and they are fully logged in. The AI's role is to make this entire process seamless and scalable, managing thousands of these proxy sessions at once and ensuring the user never sees an error. .

Intelligent "MFA Fatigue" and Deepfake Social Engineering

For accounts protected by simple push notifications, attackers use a more psychological approach called MFA Fatigue, and AI has made this tactic much smarter. Instead of just spamming a user with a hundred requests at once, an AI can orchestrate a more intelligent campaign.

For example, after obtaining a user's password, the AI might send a few push requests at the end of the workday. When the user denies them, the AI can immediately escalate. The user's phone rings, and they hear a calm, professional, and perfectly generated deepfake voice of an "IT support agent": "Hi, this is Ajay from the IT Service Desk. We've detected some unusual activity on your account which is causing these login prompts. We're working to resolve it now, but I need you to approve the next prompt that comes through so we can validate your session and secure the account."

This one-two punch is incredibly effective. The initial push requests create a believable context, and the AI-generated voice provides a convincing, human-like explanation that is designed to override the user's suspicion. The user, thinking they are helping IT solve a problem, approves the request, and the attacker is in.

Comparative Analysis: Manual vs. AI-Driven MFA Bypass

AI's role as a force multiplier has made sophisticated MFA bypass attacks accessible to a much wider range of cybercriminals.

Pune's Hybrid Workforce: A Prime Target for Bypass Scams

In 2025, Pune's massive IT and BPO workforce is the engine for countless global corporations. This workforce operates in a highly flexible, hybrid model, with millions of employees connecting to sensitive corporate networks from their homes in areas from Hadapsar to Hinjawadi. Each of these remote employees is an endpoint, and each endpoint is a potential target for an MFA bypass attack. They are operating outside the traditional corporate firewalls and are more susceptible to expertly crafted social engineering.

Consider this scenario: an employee at a large IT services firm in Pune, working from home, falls for an AI-crafted phishing email about a "new remote work tool." The AitM attack is successful, and the attacker hijacks their session token, giving them full access to the corporate network as that employee. The attacker can now access the sensitive data of the firm's global clients. To make matters worse, the attacker could then use this internal access to launch a second-stage attack, such as calling another employee using a deepfake voice of the *already compromised* employee to authorize a fraudulent action. For the global companies that rely on Pune's workforce, securing these thousands of remote endpoints and their users against AI-powered MFA bypass is a critical supply chain security issue.

Conclusion: The Mandate for Phishing-Resistant MFA

Multi-Factor Authentication is still absolutely essential. To operate without it in 2025 is negligence. However, the rise of AI-powered bypass techniques is a clear signal that not all MFA is created equal. Any method that relies on a human to dutifully check a prompt or correctly identify the source of a request is fundamentally vulnerable to the sophisticated deception that AI can now create at scale.

The defense is not to abandon MFA, but to evolve it. The mandate for all organizations is to move aggressively towards adopting truly phishing-resistant MFA. This means embracing modern standards like FIDO2 and Passkeys. These methods don't rely on a sharable secret like an OTP. Instead, they use public-key cryptography to create a secure link between your device and the legitimate service that simply cannot be phished. In an age where attackers are using intelligent machines to trick our people, the only winning move is to upgrade our technology to a standard that makes the trick impossible to pull off.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is MFA still worth using if it can be bypassed?

Absolutely. Using any form of MFA is still vastly better than just a password. The goal is to use the strongest, most phishing-resistant forms available to you.

What is the weakest type of MFA?

SMS-based One-Time Passwords (OTPs) are generally considered the weakest because they are vulnerable to both phishing and SIM-swapping attacks.

What is a session token or cookie?

It's a small piece of data that a website gives your browser after you log in. It acts as a temporary "pass" to keep you logged in so you don't have to enter your password on every page. Stealing this is the primary goal of an AitM attack.

What are Passkeys and why are they safer?

Passkeys are a modern replacement for passwords based on the FIDO2 standard. They use cryptography on your device (like your phone's fingerprint sensor) to log you in. They are phishing-resistant because the cryptographic key is tied to the legitimate website and will not work on a fake site.

Can AI really fake a voice that well?

Yes. As of 2025, real-time voice cloning technology can create deepfake voices from just a few seconds of audio that are often indistinguishable from the real person, especially over a phone call.

What is an Adversary-in-the-Middle (AitM) attack?

It's a highly sophisticated phishing attack where a hacker places a proxy server between you and the real website to intercept your credentials, OTPs, and, most importantly, your session token in real-time.

Why is a hybrid workforce in Pune such a target?

Because it represents a huge, distributed attack surface. Each remote employee is an entry point, and a successful compromise of an IT service employee in Pune can grant an attacker access to valuable global client networks.

What is "MFA Fatigue"?

It is an attack where an attacker who already has your password spams your authenticator app with push notification requests, hoping you will eventually get annoyed, confused, or distracted and tap "Approve."

Are authenticator app codes safer than SMS?

Yes, much safer. The codes generated by an app like Google Authenticator or Microsoft Authenticator are not vulnerable to SIM swapping. However, the code itself can still be phished if you are tricked into entering it on a fake website.

How do I know if I'm on a real site or a proxy site?

It can be almost impossible to tell just by looking. This is why it's so important to be suspicious of unsolicited links in emails and text messages, even if they look legitimate. Always try to navigate to sensitive sites directly.

What is the number one sign of an MFA bypass attempt?

Receiving an unexpected MFA prompt. If you are not actively trying to log into an account and you get a push notification or an OTP, it is a massive red flag that an attacker has your password and is trying to get in.

Does this affect biometrics?

Yes. Weaker forms of biometric MFA, like simple 2D facial recognition, can be bypassed by AI-generated deepfakes. This is why stronger methods like 3D facial mapping or phishing-resistant Passkeys are recommended.

What is a FIDO2 Security Key?

It's a small hardware device (often a USB key) that provides phishing-resistant authentication. It is considered one of the gold standards for MFA, as it requires physical presence and can't be tricked by a remote attacker.

Why don't all companies use phishing-resistant MFA?

Adoption is growing rapidly in 2025, but it takes time to roll out new technology across a large organization. Many companies are still using older, less secure methods due to legacy systems or perceived user convenience.

What is social engineering?

It is the psychological manipulation of people into performing actions or divulging confidential information. AI-powered MFA bypass attacks are a form of social engineering.

Can my bank's helpdesk be faked with AI?

Yes. An attacker could use a deepfake voice to impersonate a bank employee in a vishing (voice phishing) attack to try and trick you into revealing personal information.

What should I do if I am being spammed with MFA requests?

Do NOT approve any of them. It means an attacker has your password. You should immediately go to the legitimate website (by typing the address in yourself), log in, and change your password for that service.

Is this a threat to small businesses too?

Yes. The AI tools to do this are often sold as-a-service on the dark web, making them accessible even to less sophisticated criminals who frequently target small businesses.

What does it mean to "harden" MFA?

It means to implement additional security controls around your MFA. This can include number matching (where you have to type a number from the login screen into your app) or providing location context with the push request to make it harder to approve fraudulent prompts accidentally.

What is the most important takeaway?

The human is the target. Any security system that relies on a person to make a perfect security decision every single time is vulnerable. The strongest security removes the possibility of human error where possible.