Is AI Cybersecurity A Blessing Or A Hidden Curse?

The impact of artificial intelligence (AI) cannot be overlooked, as it raises the crucial question of whether AI cybersecurity serves as a boon or a bane, especially since cyber attacks have caused more than $8 trillion in damages. To gain a more profound insight into the potential of AI, it is imperative to delve into the forthcoming opportunities and challenges that are intertwined with it.

Discovering AI’s Fascinating Cyber Opportunities

Within the realm of cybersecurity, the arduous task of swiftly detecting and effectively countering threats in real-time stands as one of the most significant challenges. The sheer volume of security alarms, attack vectors, and attack surfaces makes it humanly impractical to manually monitor and analyze every single instance.

Virtually all online businesses and services have to contend with cyber security. For example, with the continued rise in online banking, comes the heightened risk and constant bombardment of cyber attacks. Just recently, a ransomware attack led to a widespread outage at more than 60 credit unions, so the importance of AI cybersecurity is of paramount importance to prevent bad actors from entering networks and accessing customer data. An attack doesn’t just cost a business money, in this case, banks money, but it tarnishes unrealized profits due to a lack of trust in their brand.

Besides banks and the medical industry being multi-billion dollar industries that are relying more heavily on AI cybersecurity, the same is true for the iGaming sector. Today, the online gambling industry is worth hundreds of billions of dollars.

With the influx of new registrations thanks to promotions, and heavy security demands for banking and withdrawals, legal online casinos are diving deeper into AI cybersecurity to stay alive and ultimately thrive, especially since State Oversight Gaming Commissions mandate thorough security measures to maintain their licenses.

Artificial Intelligence can assist in the analysis, correlation, and interpretation of extensive data volumes derived from various sources, including network logs, security software and devices, applications, and endpoints. By identifying patterns, detecting anomalies, and reporting potential vulnerabilities and threats, AI proves to be highly beneficial for incident response. Moreover, AI can provide a comprehensive impact assessment with probable root causes, utilizing natural language and summaries.

Additionally, AI aids in mitigating human error by flagging suspicious emails, minimizing misconfigurations and inconsistencies, and improving cybersecurity practices. That way, essential industries, and booming ones like the iGaming industry can tighten their ranks and boost their brand management.

The Perils of AI

The utilization of AI by threat actors and cybercriminals acts as a force multiplier, significantly enhancing their capabilities in creating highly sophisticated phishing emails. Furthermore, AI can be harnessed to fabricate entirely new identities or produce deepfakes, encompassing synthetic images, audio, and video, for the purpose of manipulation, deceit, or the dissemination of disinformation. Additionally, AI has the capacity to analyze various aspects of targets’ lives, such as their social media activity, location, demographics, and political affiliations, enabling precise profiling.

It can also reverse-engineer software code, actively search for vulnerabilities, and develop malware. Interestingly, some researchers argue that due to the absence of human limitations, AI systems could potentially execute cyberattacks using entirely novel methods or previously deemed unfeasible tactics.

The apprehension among security practitioners regarding the malicious utilization of AI is widespread, with a significant majority expressing serious concerns. Moreover, a notable 62% anticipate that offensive AI will eventually outpace its defensive counterparts. This is exemplified by the emergence of AI-crafted phishing emails, which have become nearly undetectable and can effortlessly circumvent traditional email filters.

The volume of phishing attacks has also surged due to the advent of generative AI. Researchers have even managed to create polymorphic malware using ChatGPT alone.

Circumventing AI Threats

The prevalence of AI-driven hazards is escalating, and the associated perils are undeniably tangible. To address this imminent threat, organizations can implement the following recommendations.

1. Upping AI Training

AI presents the greatest threats in the form of phishing and social engineering attacks. Since the introduction of ChatGPT, there has been a significant rise of 135% in “novel social engineering attacks”. To effectively address these risks, organizations must prioritize increasing employee awareness of AI-related threats. This can be accomplished by fostering positive security habits and providing support in identifying, reporting, and mitigating attacks driven by AI.

2. Come Up with AI Response Measures

During times of crisis, individuals often find themselves overwhelmed by intense emotions and engulfed in panic, which impairs their ability to think clearly. Therefore, it is always wise to prioritize comprehensive preparedness rather than hastily plunging into an incident unprepared. When developing or implementing incident response plans, it is essential to include provisions for reviewing, monitoring, and adjusting AI algorithms to mitigate the risks of biases, discriminatory results, and privacy infringements.