It’s no secret Artificial intelligence (AI) is currently revolutionizing all sectors, including cyber security. However, this revolution may produce undesirable results, such as misappropriation by unscrupulous and malicious Generative. AI models. For example, when ChatGPT was first introduced in 2022, it took the world by storm. Since then we have seen replicas of ChatGPT introduced to the dark web to facilitate a new era of highly malicious, AI-driven attacks.
Today, thanks to advances in generative AI, attacks are deployed in seconds and minutes – not days or weeks – which far exceeds the human ability to detect and respond. In fact, according to Secureworks Counter Threat Unit, cybercriminals are deploying Ransomware within a day from the initial point of infiltration of an organization. This delay decreased significantly in 2023, from 4.5 days in 2022 and 5.5 days the previous year.
Unfortunately, the majority of organizations are not well-positioned to combat these new threats because they are not investing in the most cost-effective and effective cybersecurity solutions. Considering that global spending on security solutions and services is expected to reach $219 billion in 2023 – while in the first quarter of 2023, more than six million data records have been exposed around the world following data breaches – it’s a worrying prospect.
So what can businesses do to end this cycle and get the most out of their cybersecurity investments? Half the battle is understanding AI and how it is used by attackers and defenders to augment their capabilities.
Senior Vice President of GSP International at WWT (World Wide Technology).
What AI can build – it can destroy
Used for malicious purposes, AI creates chaos. From deep fakes to social engineering to creating malware, there are all kinds of scams that this technology can help to develop.
Looking specifically at generative AI, malicious Gen-AI models can benefit from improved attack automation, especially when that technology makes everything significantly cheaper and faster. There are also real concerns around social engineering, as AI can help create highly sophisticated and authentic content. emails for use in targeted attacks such as spear-phishing or generic phishing campaigns, including voicemails and chat messages. For example, many phishing attempts today are easily identified by poor grammar or spelling. AI will allow malicious Gen-AI models to quickly review and modify emails to appear more credible before sending them. As this technology advances, organizations can also expect to see more realistic and higher quality deepfake video content.
AI is also used for polymorphism malware. This allows the development of highly variable threat code variants and malware packages that constantly change to evade detection by current systems. security tools. This could tip the balance of power in favor of attackers, as defense struggles to keep pace with updating use cases and configuring its preventive and detective security controls.
Fight fire with fire
Meet the challenge by hiring more qualified resources or changing methods of hybrid work, simply will not be enough to meet these AI challenges. Therefore, organizations MUST act. Generative AI itself can be part of the solution, so organizations NEED these tools because there is no other option to keep their assets secure.
The good news is clients can already protect themselves by working with OEMs, to leverage AI to significantly improve their own threat visibility, detection and response capabilities with the lowest operational overhead and produce positive results relatively faster than before the era of generative AI.
On the threat detection front, Generative AI tools can understand behavior patterns of users and objects on the network to identify malicious Gen-AI patterns. This can help organizations scale the capabilities of their existing security teams, enabling the analysis of massive amounts of unstructured data in real or near real time to detect and predict potential threats that are beyond the capabilities of identification of human analysts. Additionally, tools such as crowdsourced cyber threat intelligence sharing and AI-powered behavioral analysis can help businesses develop stronger proactive cyber defense strategies.
However, many things are easier said than done. AI can be a broad term, and with the wide range of AI solutions on the market, it can be difficult to know which solution will make a real difference in improving security. This is why it is imperative to leverage exposure and support from partners so that organizations can address specific challenges and secure their digital assets in a scalable and future-proof manner.
Generative AI is here to stay: how can we ensure an AI-powered future?
According to SecureWorks Ransomware Evolution Analysis, over the past two years we have seen a significant increase in ransomware attacks and the manifestation of ransomware-as-a-service using more Gen-AI malware models, to help orchestrate and to take advantage of. a higher frequency of successful ransomware attacks. Generative AI models such as FraudGPT, WarmGPT and many others which are frequently introduced on the Darkweb.
So, to prepare for the impact of generative AI on ransomware and the cybersecurity landscape, organizations should consider the following three key actions:
1. First, businesses should consider AI as a key foundation of their cybersecurity strategy. As highlighted above, highly automated and scripted AI-based attacks can only be defended with AI-based threat management solutions to reduce the risk and business impact of these attacks. Organizations should therefore invest and integrate AI-based security solutions into their existing security arsenal as soon as possible.
2. Second, generative AI as a technology is here to stay and evolve. It is therefore important to evaluate current, long-standing security practices and upskill engineers on AI-based solutions where necessary. Humans are at the heart of today’s AI evolution. Therefore, hiring or training IT professionals with AI knowledge will enable good decision-making and help ensure that organizations stay ahead of the AI adoption curve and about potential risks.
3. Finally, organizations must remain open-minded to AI challenges and rethink procedures and processes as necessary. To do this, organizations must regularly assess their maturity and gaps, evaluate current security postures, deploy controls, and define specific transition steps that need to be taken to develop a sustainable strategy to mitigate a new wave of automated cyber threats. and multi-driven by AI. organized attacks like ransomware and phishing campaigns.
It is therefore essential that businesses learn to adapt and invest in the right cybersecurity solutions to meet today’s needs. In turn, this will help businesses better adapt to a rapidly evolving threat landscape. Additionally, businesses will become more resilient, productive and competitive by embracing this digital revolution with confidence, now and in the future.
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