Following on a bit from my previous article, this week I wanted to delve into how artificial intelligence (AI) is transforming cybersecurity.
While AI has proven to be a powerful tool to protect us, it is also being used by cybercriminals to launch more sophisticated and dangerous attacks.
In this article, we will explore how AI is impacting both cyberattacks and defenses, and discuss some real-world cases that demonstrate its effectiveness on both fronts.
Every few seconds a new cyber attack occurs.
Here is a map that reflects this activity in real time.
How AI is facilitating cyberattacks
Cybercriminals are exploiting AI to make their attacks harder to detect and therefore more damaging.
Here’s how:
- Enhanced Phishing: As mentioned in the video “The Intersection of AI and Cybersecurity,” AI can create much more convincing phishing emails.
These messages are so natural that even the most attentive users could fall for them.
Whereas fraudulent emails used to be poorly worded, today they look like legitimate communications, making it harder to identify the threat. - Intelligent malware: AI has the ability to generate polymorphic malware, i.e. malware that changes its structure to avoid detection by traditional antivirus.
This demonstrates how quickly cybercriminals can evolve their methods using AI to create viruses that are harder to track. - Automated attacks: AI allows attackers to automate large-scale attacks.
Knowledge graphs, an AI tool, can help criminals analyze multiple variables (such as domains, IP addresses and users) to find weaknesses in systems.
This allows them to launch more organized and simultaneous attacks against many companies at once.
- Improved social engineering: AI is also used to create more sophisticated social engineering attacks.
Phishing emails, generated with AI, have increased their success rate from 18% to 51% by personalizing messages to exploit human vulnerabilities.
This makes the attacks more effective and dangerous. - Deepfakes and disinformation: The creation of deepfakes is another major risk.
Attackers can use AI to generate fake videos or audios that mimic a person, making it difficult to distinguish between the real and the manipulated.
This type of technology can be used to blackmail or spread disinformation on a large scale.
At the end of this post I leave you with a very realistic example of deep fake.
Soon it will be indistinguishable reality from AI-generated content.
AI as a defense shield: Intelligent countermeasures
Fortunately, AI is also on the side of cybersecurity advocates, creating more advanced solutions to counter these threats.
Here some examples of how it is being used to protect us:
- Automatic threat detection: AI is used with great success in threat detection.
For example, knowledge graphs are not only useful for attackers, but also for defense teams.
By linking information about domains, infected files and users, AI can detect malware infections quickly and stop their spread before they cause damage. - Predictive analytics: AI systems are capable of applying predictive analytics to anticipate future threats. This allows companies to close security gaps before they are exploited, reducing the risk of being attacked.
As the second video mentions, AI is excellent at analyzing large volumes of data, detecting patterns and preventing attacks before they occur. - Automation of routine tasks: Another great advantage of AI is the ability to automate repetitive tasks, such as applying security patches or updating systems. This not only frees up cybersecurity professionals to focus on more complex threats, but also reduces the risk of vulnerabilities as systems are constantly kept up to date.
- Behavioral monitoring and analysis: AI also excels at real-time behavioral monitoring.
An example from the first video shows how AI can detect suspicious activity, such as when a user with high privileges creates an account, accesses sensitive information, and then deletes the account within a short period of time.
These patterns of behavior can indicate an insider attack, and the AI identifies them before damage is done. - Cyberanalysis and anomaly detection: Using big data, AI can perform deep analysis of network traffic and detect anomalies.
The second video mentions how AI can generate playbooks or incident response manuals, facilitating a faster and more efficient response to any potential cyber-attack. - Reduced cost and response time: Finally, AI also contributes to reducing cost and time in cybersecurity incidents. The use of AI can save up to $176 million per incident and reduce containment time by more than 100 days, highlighting its value as a key tool in defense.
The future: Collaborative AI in cybersecurity
The future of cybersecurity is moving towards a more collaborative approach, where different technologies and AI tools will work together to deliver a more robust defense.
Companies such as IBM have already integrated AI into 100% of their security products.
In addition, the use of chatbots with natural language processing capabilities is helping investigators obtain information more quickly during a security investigation, acting as another member of the team.
This collaboration between AI systems, combined with information sharing between companies, is crucial to stay ahead of new threats.
Over time, we will see AI not only react to cyberattacks, but become a proactive tool that anticipates and prevents risks before they materialize.
The following video, produced about a year ago, is totally synthetic.
In fact the speech and lipsinking you see is generated entirely by artificial intelligence.
Imagine how this technology is going to progress with the immense advances in artificial intelligence…
Artificial intelligence is undoubtedly a double-edged sword in the field of cybersecurity. On the one hand, cybercriminals are using AI to launch more sophisticated and harder-to-detect attacks.
On the other hand, cybersecurity professionals are harnessing the power of AI to create smarter and more efficient defenses.
The future of cybersecurity will depend on how we use this technology to anticipate threats and protect our systems.
What are your thoughts on the use of AI in cybersecurity?
Do you think AI should have an even greater role in digital protection, or are you concerned that it is also empowering attacks?
How do you think its use should be balanced to ensure it is more of a defensive tool than an offensive one?
Leave me your comments and let’s keep the conversation going!
Have a good week!
