AI is the new weapon in the cat and mouse game between hackers and cybersecurity

AI-driven cybercrimes are on the rise, according to a recent report from cybersecurity firm Arkose Labs, enabling hackers to accelerate their attacks and making automated fraud more human and harder to detect than ever before.

One of the best defenses, according to Arkose and other companies in the sector, is the use of more AI. However, only about one in five companies reported being “very well prepared” to deploy their own AI to defend against cyberattacks, according to the report — although 88% said they had seen “a significant increase in bot attacks driven by AI” in the last two years.

Bots are being used by hackers to take over legitimate accounts at targeted companies and create numerous fake accounts, taking advantage of sign-up bonuses, according to the report.

Some bots have even started targeting large language model systems, sending commands to AI to extract data to train their own models.

Another form of “piracy” is to use the largest and most advanced models to generate the prompts requested of them by their customers – a kind of clandestine “outsourcing” of AI. In other words, they sell a service that is actually performed by another AI.

Other studies have found that generative AI can be used to automate security attacks. phishing and social engineering. One recent report from Morgan Stanley pointed out that technology can be used to create messages of phishing more targeted and at greater speed than humans.

This means that attacks can not only be launched faster, but also be more effective. Some algorithms could also make artificial intelligence better able to guess passwords, according to the report.

All of this has led cybersecurity companies like Arkose Labs to develop new technologies specifically designed to combat these modern bots. About three in five organizations believe AI is essential for responding to security threats, according to a report from Capgemini released last week.

Studies have found that generative AI can be used to automate more targeted phishing attacks.

“The use of AI and generative AI has so far proven to be a double-edged sword,” said Marco Pereira, global head of cybersecurity and cloud infrastructure services at Capgemini. “While it introduces unprecedented risks, organizations are increasingly turning to AI for faster, more accurate detection of cyber incidents.”

AI-driven attacks are a growing challenge, and in many cases, hackers may have a head start in utilizing the technology.

According to Arkose Labs CFO Frank Teruel, companies are operating in an AI economy where bad actors leverage the technology for high-return-on-investment attacks without regard for issues such as governance and approval processes, which are observed by companies. in good faith.

---

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Steven Melendez is an independent journalist based in New Orleans. find out more

---