Artificial intelligence is not the cyber future – it is the present

It is easier to talk about areas of life that will not be affected by artificial intelligence than about where it will. Enterprises are leading the way in this adoption. But where companies go, bad actors often follow them – sometimes even ahead of them.

Although Generation Artificial Intelligence is being used positively in companies, speeding up administrative tasks and acting as an assistant for many people, it has already fallen into the “wrong hands”. More and more Gen. AI offerings are available on the dark web to aid would-be hackers and bad actors in their efforts. The commoditization of AI could help cybercriminals make phishing attacks seem more personal and realistic, which could increase the likelihood of successful breaches that could lead to ransomware attacks. Ransomware is one of the greatest threats to modern businesses, threatening their reputations and careers, and will remain so.

In the face of these evolving threats, it is incumbent on enterprises to engage all of their stakeholders, including executives, and prioritize cyber resilience to ensure business continuity. It’s not a question of if the attack will happen, but when. Data is the most important asset of any organization and if it is secure, your business is resilient.

Richard Cassidy

Fuel for the fire

We usually associate artificial intelligence with large language models such as OpenAI‘S ChatGPT AND GoogleBard AI, and not with the potential cybercriminal threats that tools like Worm GPT and FraudGPT may pose.

However, in the cybercrime space, we are well aware that cybercriminals focus on the highest possible profit and reward with the lowest investment of time and effort, and generative AI can be a perfect synergy in the cybercrime underworld in this regard.

Adversaries can use AI to optimize and expand the reach of their threat campaigns much more effectively than ever before, resulting in attacks that narrow the scope for defenders to respond and mitigate.

Emotional tension

As artificial intelligence technology advances, fraud is becoming more sophisticated. In the future, AI threats may include autonomous systems capable of making decisions about modifying attack strategies in real time, with the ability to analyze the effectiveness of attack campaigns. This could enable the use of data kits constantly evolve and automatically improve, building proficiency in bypassing traditional defenses – something we haven’t seen in history cybersecurity.

However, for overworked CISOs and IT teams, AI can seem like an added burden. The same is true in the UK, where 92% of senior UK IT and security leaders reported changes in their emotional and/or mental state as a direct result of a cyber attack, and 36% were concerned about job security.

However, it doesn’t have to be this way. For example, AI-generating companions can help stretched teams simplify and automate cyber incident responses and, in turn, recovery.

AI for good

Despite the threats, it is worth moving forward. Companies need to use AI in controlled environments where they are confident in its benefits, which typically include automation of administrative tasks, data compilation support, and creative inspiration.

Artificial intelligence, used by CISOs and IT teams to support cyber resilience, can help in the areas of threat analysis, research and modeling to understand potential attack vectors and enhance anomaly detection capabilities. This not only relieves the burden on stretched teams, but also shortens their administration time and allows them to focus on “bigger fish” operations and cyber resilience strategies.

Investing in Artificial intelligence tools should include employee training on use cases for the technology in controlled environments, which will shed light on company-wide cyber resilience. However, IT teams and CISOs must continue to closely monitor its use, regulate access to training data and put up barriers.

It is essential that executives have a strong commitment to cyber resilience, as the ultimate responsibility for adopting and implementing compliant AI capabilities will always rest with the organization’s executive leadership.

A new chapter

Just relying prevention not enough. To ensure business continuity in the face of threats, IT teams and CISOs must develop cybersecurity and resilience recovery strategies that proactively protect data integrity, identify sensitive data and threats, and enable clean and rapid recovery.

The newly proposed Cybersecurity and Resilience Act introduces expanded reporting requirements for ransomware attacks, providing government agencies with valuable new information on the scale of the attack and opportunities to increase support for affected businesses.

The purpose of the bill is to provide mandatory reporting requirements to policymakers and threat intelligence agencies for valuable data on the incidence of cyberattacks, currently viewed as a “known unknown.” With all this additional data at our disposal, it is extremely important to manage it effectively, with the involvement of law enforcement and cybersecurity companies to effectively mitigate threats.

When it comes to the impact on businesses, it is important to take a balanced approach – one that combines regulatory measures with practical support for affected organizations. Despite the threats, if used positively by CISOs and IT teams, AI can help analyze, research and model threats to help build cyber resilience strategies and better understand potential threats.

To address these growing threats, CISOs and IT teams must fight with fire or risk losing out in the AI cyber arms race.

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