Artificial Intelligence and Cybercrime: A Promising Yet Dangerous Combination
Artificial intelligence (AI) is developing at a breakneck speed and continually finding new use cases. However, while its potential is exciting and seemingly limitless, this emerging technology presents cybersecurity vulnerabilities that can be difficult to predict, identify, and protect against.
Here are some vulnerabilities and avenues for cyber threats that AI is introducing to the world – and how organizations can protect themselves.
Emerging Cyber Threats
Here’s a brief overview of how artificial intelligence is supercharging cybercriminals’ existing tactics, and how it’s introducing new threats.
1. Automated Attacks
AI can automate cyberattacks, making them faster and more efficient. This includes:
● Botnets: Artificial intelligence can control large networks of infected devices (botnets) to perform distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks more effectively.
● Brute force attacks: AI algorithms can automate and speed up brute force attacks to crack passwords or encryption keys.
● Phishing: AI can craft convincing phishing emails by mimicking writing styles and using personalized information gathered from social media and other sources. Approximately 36% of data breaches in 2023 were caused by phishing attacks.
Here are the top industries targeted by phishing attacks in Q4 2023:
2. Advanced Malware
AI gives hackers sophisticated deception tactics to mislead security systems and professionals, including malware that can adapt its behavior based on the environment to avoid detection.
Here are some examples of how malware is becoming increasingly difficult to detect and remove:
● Polymorphic malware: Malware can change its code continuously with the help of AI, making it difficult for traditional antivirus software to detect.
● Evasive techniques: AI-powered malware can learn from detection attempts and adapt to evade security measures.
● Ransomware: AI can enhance ransomware by selecting valuable targets and optimizing encryption methods. Median loss for ransomware attacks in 2023 was $46,000 per breach.
3. Exploitation of Vulnerabilities
Malicious actors can more effectively identify and exploit software vulnerabilities through the following tactics:
● Zero-day exploits: Artificial intelligence can discover unknown vulnerabilities, also known as zero-day exploits, faster than human cybercriminals can.
● Predictive exploitation: AI can predict which vulnerabilities are likely to be exploited and develop attacks preemptively.
4. Deepfakes and Social Engineering
In 2023, 68% of data breaches involved an unintentional human element, such as being tricked by a social engineering attack or making an honest mistake. With deepfakes becoming more convincing, it will be increasingly difficult to identify them.
Here’s an overview of both of these tactics and how they’re connected:
● Deepfake videos and audio: AI can generate realistic video and audio deepfakes, which can be used to impersonate individuals and deceive targets in social engineering attacks. Imagine receiving a call from your boss asking for a password.
● Social engineering: Cyberattacks that involve tricking a human into giving a malicious actor unauthorized access to systems or data. Hackers can analyze social media and other online data to tailor social engineering attacks that are highly personalized and convincing. Imagine receiving a call from your boss asking for a password.
5. AI-Powered Hacking Tools
Artificial intelligence can augment the existing capabilities of hackers. While the following examples could be used by organizations and ethical hackers to improve cybersecurity defenses, in the wrong hands they represent enhanced threats:
● Automated vulnerability scanners: Artificial intelligence can create tools that automatically scan systems for vulnerabilities and suggest or execute exploits.
● AI-driven penetration testing: AI can simulate attacks more effectively than traditional penetration testing methods, identifying weak points in a system.
6. Weaponization of AI Models
AI models themselves can be weaponized through the following types of attacks:
● Poisoning attacks: Injecting malicious data into AI training datasets to corrupt the model.
● Adversarial attacks: Manipulating inputs to AI systems to cause them to malfunction or produce incorrect outputs. This tactic is also being used by artists to protect their work from AI.
How to Mitigate AI-Driven Cyber Threats
To mitigate these threats, organizations need to fight fire with fire. In other words, they need to adopt AI-driven cybersecurity measures, including:
● AI-based threat detection: Using AI to detect and respond to cyber threats in real time.
● Continuous monitoring: Implementing continuous monitoring and analysis of network traffic and behavior.
● Advanced authentication: Enhancing authentication mechanisms with AI to detect anomalies and unauthorized access. For example, AI can learn your normal locations for authenticating to cloud services and recognize/block when an unusual location attempts authentication.
Just as social engineering attacks rely on human vulnerabilities, a strong cybersecurity posture depends on your team’s cybersecurity hygiene. This involves:
● Define AI policies: Clearly defining what AI tools can be used and how they play a role in your business is very important. See our blog article on AI policy. Once your AI policy is set, ensure every employee understands and agrees to comply with them.
● Using only approved AI resources: Depend on trusted sources such as your managed service provider to help you choose the right AI tools.
● Follow AI best practices: Proper use of AI tools is essential to maintain high standards within the organization and to avoid security vulnerabilities. This involves educating employees about AI-driven threats and promoting security awareness.
● Keep confidential information private: Avoid sharing of confidential information via AI tools, including use in AI prompts.
● See Something, Say Something: If something looks fishy – or phishy – notify your management or IT provider/team immediately to identify or mitigate any damage and increase protections.
Conclusion
While AI presents significant risks in terms of new cyber threats, it also offers powerful tools for defense. Balancing the development and implementation of AI in cybersecurity is crucial to maintaining a secure digital environment.
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