Security Experts Concerned With AI-Driven Cyberattacks

Jonathan Reed, writing in Security Intelligence, says that companies must think like chess masters when it comes to cybersecurity, Either they are several moves ahead of cyber criminals or they’re behind. He cites a report that threat group investment is increasingly focused on AI-driven cyberattacks.

AI-driven cyberattacks can zero in on vulnerabilities, detect patterns, and exploit weaknesses. AI’s rapid data analysis gives hackers a tactical advantage over poorly equipped cyber defenses.

One good way to stymie them is to include cloud-based AI cybersecurity to help identify anomalies that might indicate the start of a cyberattack. AI cybersecurity solutions can detect ransomware anomalies in less than one minute.

Criminals have been using AI for a while to automate operations. Two examples of this are helping with content creation for phishing emails and using LLMs for basic scripting tasks like file manipulation, data selection, and multiprocessing.

Traditionally, companies have relied on immutable copies of data to protect against ransomware attacks. These backups are also useful for helping organizations comply with data regulations.

Storage protection based on immutable copies of data is usually separated from production environments. These safeguarded copies cannot be modified or deleted by anyone and are only accessible by authorized administrators. This ensures immediate access to data in response to attacks, but it is reactive.

A few chess moves from now AI tools will be offered as a paid service, like Ransomware-as-a-Service, to help deploy attacks more efficiently. However, new AI cybersecurity tools look for anomalous behaviors indicative of a cyber threat. 

The best of these can distinguish ransomware and malware from normal behavior. This accelerates threat detection and response and allows companies to keep operating without interruption during an attack.