In the rapidly changing field of cybersecurity, artificial intelligence (AI) offers both advantages and disadvantages. Cybercriminals are using AI to escalate attacks, presenting new difficulties for enterprises even as it provides defenders with enormous potential to improve threat identification and response. AI is predicted to have a big impact on cybersecurity this year, especially in areas like firmware assaults, endpoint security, and phishing.
AI-Powered Social Engineering
At a never-before-seen scale, cybercriminals are using AI to create incredibly realistic phishing lures. AI-powered social engineering uses machine learning algorithms to generate more targeted and convincing phishing lures, making it more difficult for people to distinguish between emails that are malicious and those that are not.
It takes a multifaceted strategy that combines technological solutions with user education and awareness to stop AI-driven social engineering attacks. Using AI-powered threat detection systems to recognize and stop malicious emails and messages is one approach. These systems are able to assess the validity of messages by examining their behavior and substance. Additionally, adding an extra layer of protection will come from making users utilize 2FA in order to access sensitive data or carry out specific tasks.
Language Models on Devices
Large-scale natural language processing (NLP) models known as “On-Device Language Models” are made to operate directly on a user’s device, whether it a computer, tablet, or smartphone, without requiring continuous communication to a remote server. These models can be used to power chatbots, virtual assistants, and other AI-powered applications because they can comprehend and produce human language.
These models can handle natural language instructions and inquiries more quickly, with greater privacy and security, and with less need on external servers, because they operate on-device. By processing data locally and lowering the risks associated with cloud-based processing, these AI-powered chatbots and assistants will improve privacy and efficiency.
AI-Assisted Virus Deployment
AI has the potential to produce phishing emails or messages that are extremely convincing and customized for particular employees within the company. These messages might include highly skilled malware that is meant to get past conventional security mechanisms.
After an employee opens an attachment or clicks on a link in a phishing message, the virus may utilize artificial intelligence (AI) to move laterally throughout the company’s network, finding and taking advantage of holes in systems and apps.
A company could suffer greatly from this kind of attack in the form of financial loss, reputational harm, and data breaches. It emphasizes how crucial it is to put strong cybersecurity measures in place in order to defend against attacks powered by artificial intelligence. These methods include advanced threat detection, safe network segmentation, and user education.
