See How Hackers are Utilizing Artificial Intelligence
Artificial Intelligence: Hackers’ Latest Weapon
Companies are leveraging artificial intelligence (AI) to provide better customer experience, perform predictive analytics and drive actionable insights. Artificial intelligence gives businesses an opportunity to detect and rapidly respond to emerging consumer needs. On the other hand, companies are also building a flexible security perimeter around their cyberspace through AI. Automated threat prevention, detection and response strategies have revolutionized the cybersecurity industry.
However, AI is a double-edged sword that can easily be utilized by hackers with malicious intent as well. Falling in the hands of cybercriminals, AI and machine learning can be used to launch a wave of cyber attacks that are way more effective with far-reaching consequences.
The Era of AI-backed Threats and Attacks
AI has also become immensely popular among cybercriminals. Hackers not only use AI to gain deeper insights into their victim’s cybersecurity strategies and tools, but they also leverage it to bypass the victim organization’s security perimeter. Considering this new trend, it is likely that we’ll soon start witnessing a wave of AI-based, polymorphic malware infesting organizations’ environments. Such malware, due to its constantly changing code, is hard to detect, analyze and contain, thus maximizing its impact.
Just like businesses can analyze large data sets within seconds to power BI tools and make informed decisions, hackers can steal volumes of data and analyze everything in an instant as well. They can turn that data against the owner itself and utilize it to carry out smart phishing attacks. By automating most of the skill-intensive parts, attackers can launch attacks that yield greater results with minimal human resources, infiltrate a large number of devices and remain undetected for the longest period of time.
1. AI-Powered Malware
Through AI and ML, hackers can potentially create malware that can sit undetected in an environment for a period of time long enough to learn about the normal operations and security defenses to mimic trusted elements and make autonomous decisions based on the gathered contextual information. Such malware can be programmed to remain hidden until certain conditions are met or a target is identified through parameters such as location, fingerprint or voice recognition. As a proof of concept, IBM created ‘DeepLocker’ which hides malicious data payloads in carrier applications like video conferencing. This allows the malware to bypass modern intrusion detection systems. It unleashes the attack only after recognizing the target.
2. Smart Phishing
Another way hackers are leveraging AI and ML is the mass production of customized phishing attacks. Through Artificial Intelligence, malicious attackers can generate emails and messages that can truly imitate the voice and tone of a particular person. They can also target specific users that have a history of being negligent and unaware of the security best practices. When hackers already know some relevant information about the victims like date of birth and address, it becomes easier to propagate a phishing email that impersonates a trusted source and seems genuine.
3. AI-Powered Bots
Businesses have been using automated chatbots to automate conversations with their customers and provide quick and better customer care. With the help of AI, bots are learning to behave more like actual humans making it hard to detect a bot versus a real human. Hackers can harness the same technologies to implement AI-powered bots that can impersonate an authentic user, bypass security and gain access into a protected environment. Through AI, labor-intensive parts of an attack- like captcha breaking- can be carried out quickly and efficiently.
In Conclusion
AI is currently being used to scale up attacks, identify vulnerabilities and select targets. Attacks that have been existing since decades are now made to become more precise and fast with a greater impact. On one hand, AI is presenting sophisticated solutions to modern businesses, and on the other, it is also present at the disposal of malicious users to generate attacks that are hard to prevent and even harder to detect and mitigate. New threats are enabling new defenses to contain them; interestingly, both are leveraging the same technologies.
