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The introduction of AI into our daily lives has been talked about for years, but with the launch of ChatGPT and other forms of artificial intelligence over the last twelve months, it’s become less of a ‘what if’ and more of a reality.
It’s hard to browse any tech news now without coming across at least one article stating how AI is going to change the way that we work. Whether that’s negatively – by taking jobs away from people, or positively – by making their day-to-day work more streamlined, there’s no doubt that the impact artificial intelligence will have on us is going to be huge.
But one potential threat that hasn’t been covered perhaps as much as it should be, is the threat that artificial intelligence causes to our cyber security.
Security business Darktrace recorded a 135% increase in more bespoke attacks in the first two months of 2023, correlating unsurprisingly with the adoption of ChatGPT. This new AI has the ability to write and churn out phishing emails at an alarming rate, bypassing some of the common phishing ‘tells’ like poor spelling and grammar and even making them personalised for a more realistic appearance.
AI can also be used to develop constantly changing malware, helping attackers evade detection and allowing the malware to sit inside systems for longer, gathering more data and causing more damage.
Top 5 AI-powered cyber security threats
- Advanced Persistent Threats (ATPs) – a long-term, sustained cyber-attack that remains dormant in your network, using AI to avoid detection in order to steal sensitive data.
- Deepfake Attacks – these are a type of social engineering attack, whereas AI will be used to impersonate real people and carry out fraudulent attacks.
- Malware – AI teaches the malware to essentially think for itself, meaning it can continuously evade defences and detection software, remaining in your devices for as long as possible.
- Phishing – using machine learning, attackers can use AI to create convincing phishing emails, designed to trick the recipient into revealing sensitive information.
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) Attacks – these attacks use AI to exploit vulnerabilities in a network, allowing the attacker to magnify and scale up the impact of their attack by knowing exactly where to target.
How to protect yourself from these more advanced attacks
Unfortunately, as artificial intelligence allows attacks to become more advanced, a lot of the technology that is regularly used to prevent them – like anti-virus or anti-malware software – becomes less effective.
However, this doesn’t necessarily spell trouble. The best way to protect yourself from these attacks is by training your people to identify any and all cyber-attacks, through cyber awareness courses. These courses educate your people on the most common types of cyber-attacks, how to identify them and what you can do to avoid falling victim.
At Boxphish, we provide cyber security awareness training which is delivered automatically to our users on a monthly basis, using interactive methods like video and gamification to educate them on cyber threats. Their knowledge is then tested through a short quiz, to ensure that they are prepared to deal with cyber-attacks, should they be targeted.
To find out more about Boxphish training and see how we could help your organisation, get in touch with us today.