Report published by the United Kingdom National Cyber Security Center (NCSC) warns that artificial intelligence will significantly increase cyber threats in the next two years.
The center is particularly warning of an increase in ransomware attacks. which involves hackers deploying malware to encrypt a victim’s files or the entire system and demanding a ransom payment for the decryption key.
The NCSC assessment predicts that AI will enhance the capabilities of threat actors primarily to conduct more convincing phishing attacks that trick people into providing sensitive information or clicking on malicious links.
“Genetic AI can already create persuasive interactions, such as documents that fool people, without the translation and grammatical errors common in phishing emails,” the report says.
The advent of generative artificial intelligence, capable of creating persuasive interactions and documents without common phishing red flags, is recognized as a key factor in the growing threat landscape over the next two years.
The NCSC assessment identifies challenges in cyber resilience, citing the difficulty of verifying the legitimacy of emails and password reset requests due to the creation of artificial intelligence and large language models. The shrinking time between security updates and threat exploitation further complicates rapid vulnerability remediation for network administrators.
James Babbage, director general for threats at National Crime Agencycommented: “AI services lower barriers to entry, increasing the number of cybercriminals and will enhance their capability by improving the scale, speed and effectiveness of existing attack methods.”
However, the NCSC report also described how artificial intelligence could enhance cyber security through improved attack detection and system design. It calls for further research on how developments in AI defense solutions can mitigate evolving threats.
Access to quality data, skills, tools, and time make advanced AI-based cyber operations feasible primarily for currently highly capable government agencies. However, the NCSC warns that these barriers to entry will gradually come down as capable groups monetize and sell AI-enabled hacking tools.
Scope of AI growth over the next two years:
Lindy Cameron, CEO of the NCSC, said: “We need to ensure that we both harness AI technology for its enormous potential and manage its risks – including its impact on the cyber threat.”
The UK government has allocated £2.6 billion under the Cyber Security Strategy 2022 to strengthen the country’s resilience to emerging high-tech threats.
Artificial intelligence is capable of fundamentally changing the cyber risk landscape in the near future. Continued investment in defense capabilities and research will be critical to neutralizing its potential to empower attackers.
A full copy of the NCSC report can be found here here.
(Photo by Muha Ajjan on Unscrew)
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