How AI Can Influence Cyber Attacks

Over the past few years, artificial intelligence (AI) has moved from being a buzzword to something we interact with daily, whether its automated messages, online chatbots, or tools to help us make decisions quicker. Given this, it’s no surprise that AI has also made its way into cybersecurity, helping organisations just like yours recognise and respond to potential cyber threats and stay one step ahead of criminals.

But there’s another side of the story that we can’t ignore. Just as businesses are utilising AI to improve their cyber resilience, criminals are finding more and more new ways to use AI to enhance their attacks. The same tools that help us automate and streamline our cybersecurity processes can also be turned against us if we’re not careful, making cyber attacks more sophisticated, targeted, and difficult to detect.

So, how exactly is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) influencing cyber attacks?

1: Smarter Phishing Attempts

We’ve all had an obvious phishing email, full of grammatical errors, spelling mistakes, and sent from a suspicious-looking domain. AI has changed this. Now, criminals can use AI to generate realistic, personalised messages that mimic real communications from colleagues, suppliers or customers. AI allows criminals to create convincing phishing emails in a matter of seconds, making them harder to detect, especially for busy employees.

2: Deepfakes and Vishing

Deepfake videos aren’t anything new, they’ve been around online for a long time – some are amusing, but most are very unsettling. In the wrong hands, this technology can be extremely dangerous. Criminals are already using deepfake audio and video to impersonate CEOs and other high-profile individuals to trick employees into transferring money or sharing sensitive data. With voice cloning tools, it’s now possible for criminals to generate audio that sounds like someone you know and make “vishing” phone calls to staff members, again to trick them into handing over private information. This highlights just how easy it is for AI to convincingly clone a voice — as demonstrated in Safe Phrases: Stay safe against AI voice cloning - YouTube. But it also shows how something as simple as a pre-agreed plan can stop a scam in its tracks. On a more optimistic note, AI isn’t just being used by criminals — it’s also being used to fight back. In AI Scambaiters: O2 creates AI Granny to waste scammers’ time - YouTube, we see how technology can turn the tables on fraudsters.

3: Automated Vulnerability Scanning

AI can be trained to scan a company’s systems for vulnerabilities, just like cyber professionals would do in order to help improve the company’s cyber security. Criminals are now using similar tactics to exploit your system’s vulnerabilities. Criminals can use AI to automate the process of finding weak spots in software or networks at an incredibly fast rate. This means they can launch attacks quickly, often before businesses have had a chance to spot the vulnerabilities themselves.

4: Evolving Malware

AI is being used to adapt malware to avoid detection. This isn’t your standard malware virus, it’s a code that learns and changes to bypass firewalls and antivirus tools. Some versions of this malware can stay in a business’ systems until certain conditions arise, such as a specific location, time, or configuration, making them much harder to detect and remove.

But it’s not all bad news…

This may sound a bit overwhelming, but here’s the good news: just as criminals are using AI to enhance their cyber attacks, we can use it to enhance our defences too. We work with businesses across the South East region to help them understand these threats and build a strong cyber resilience strategy to protect themselves. Here are a few simple yet crucial steps that we recommend every business should be implementing:

·       Ensure your staff training is up to date. Your staff are your first and last line of defence, especially against the most common cyber threats such as phishing and social engineering.

·       Regularly update your systems. AI can find weaknesses fast, so don’t leave any doors open.

·       Utilise multiple defence strategies including firewalls, endpoint protection, and behavioural monitoring tools.

·       Stay up to date! Cyber threats are constantly evolving, and we’re here to help you keep up. Our membership is free and will give you access to expert guidance, updates, and affordable services for your organisation.

By understanding how criminals use AI, we can better prepare for the risks and protect the people, systems, and data that our business relies on every day. If you’re not sure where to start or just want an expert to have a look over your current cyber security protocols, then join the SECRC today and our team will be happy to help you.