AI in Cybercrime: How to Secure Your Data in the Face of Emerging Threats
The rapid development of artificial intelligence brings both opportunities and risks. The risks arise due to the potential misuse of highly capable general-purpose AI and the development of specific solutions with malicious intent. The declaration gives special consideration to threats arising in cybersecurity, admitting the urgent need for addressing the growing AI and cybercrime risks.
AI-empowered cyberattacks remain the most disturbing data security threat. Understanding the challenges that cybercrime and AI pose to IT infrastructures and data is critical to developing effective protection strategies.
In this post, we review the AI threat to cybersecurity and explain the most widespread ways artificial intelligence is used in cyberattacks. Read on to learn more about the impact of AI on cybersecurity systems and which key measures you can implement to protect your data against AI-driven cyber threats.
5 Key Ways Cybercriminals Are Using AI in Cybercrime
In the wrong hands, artificial intelligence can make every AI cybercrime attempt significantly more dangerous. Malicious actors now have advanced AI-based instruments that improve cyberattack preparation and execution.
AI-enhanced phishing and email attacks
Phishing, probably the most effective tactic to conduct a cyberattack, got its second wind with the development of generative AI. Cybercriminals are among the first to leverage LLM tools to craft fake email content.
Using generative AI, attackers can make phishing emails look more credible. Purposely trained LLMs can copy one’s communication manner and writing style, creating personalized messages that look trustworthy and convincing. For example, this allows hackers to increase the efficiency of Business Email Compromise (BEC) attacks.
The other outcome of such a combination is the growing frequency of phishing attacks. AI tools can generate a large number of targeted emails within a very short time. More AI-driven emails mean more attacks, which increase the cybercriminals’ chances of success.
Deepfake technology and identity theft
Deepfakes (“deep learning” plus “fake”) are images, videos or audio that AI tools generate or edit, depicting real or non-existing people. Advanced artificial intelligence models now enable the fast creation of fake audiovisual content that seems authentic. These fake voice or video recordings empower diverse AI cybercrime tactics based on identity theft.
Cybercriminals can use deepfake content to bypass biometric identification algorithms and create online accounts under stolen (or entirely fake) identities. Then, they can use those accounts for fraudulent activities, such as cryptocurrency scams. Deepfake videos of celebrities promoting fake investment projects and other get-rich-quick schemes add non-deserved credibility to online content that potential victims would otherwise doubt or ignore.
OTP bots and automated hacking
One-time passwords (OTP) for multi-factor authentication (MFA) are among the most reliable access control measures. However, developing OTP bots can help hackers break this strong defense. An OTP bot is a malicious automated program purposely crafted to steal, intercept or bypass one-time passwords that users enter for login verification.
Some OTP bots rely on social engineering and trick individuals into sharing their one-time codes with unauthorized parties. For instance, a malicious actor trying to break into someone’s bank account can use an OTP bot to call the potential victim and pretend to be a bank security bot. An OTP bot can then claim a fake security threat for an account, thus creating a sense of urgency and panic to convince the target to enter the relevant OTP. A hacker sees the code in real time and can use it to access the account or complete an unauthorized transaction.
Other OTP bots can behave as spyware. First, these bots sneak into a user’s device using pirated software or after the user clicks a malicious link. Then, an autonomously installed OTP bot exposes incoming one-time password messages to hackers, leaving victims unaware of the AI cybercrime.
Highly automated OTP bots can enable massive cyberattack campaigns without significant investments or resources. With an advanced OTP bot and a large database of leaked credentials, even a lone cybercriminal can compromise thousands of one-time codes within short timeframes. A human hacker only needs to feed a bot with credentials, and AI algorithms do the rest to conduct a breach.
AI voice spoofing and impersonation
Modern AI tools can render high-quality images, audio and videos in real time. With such tools, cybercriminals can create“real-time deepfakes”.
The voice cloning capabilities of AI pose unique challenges for financial institutions, among other organizations. Fraudsters can try to clone actual users’ voices to contact bank support centers and get unauthorized access to their accounts. Also, real-time content creation AI enables the quick generation of legitimate-looking documents and videos, allowing criminals to bypass initial security identification and create bank accounts based on non-existing personas.
Using AI models to clone voices and fake faces in real time allows bad actors to go even further for illegal profits.
Social engineering 2.0: Manipulating behavior with AI
Businesses use AI to collect and process large volumes of data to improve user experience and personalize marketing campaigns. Still, the same data and tools can serve malicious purposes when in the wrong hands.
Data leaks happen, and gigabytes of records remain publicly available (or are purchased via the dark web). Cybercriminals can use advanced artificial intelligence tools to analyze behavioral patterns. Additionally, investigating stolen personal data can allow them to identify the most vulnerable targets for an attack.
AI’s analytical capabilities enable preliminary target profiling on demand. This includes psychological profiling, health status, job position or hobbies, among other personal characteristics of the potential victim.
With the data from social media, other open sources and leaked databases, criminals can conduct exceptionally accurate personalized AI cyberattacks. They can aptly manipulate the target’s behavior by picking exposure methods that are more likely to work for a known person in known conditions. This includes adding fake advertisements and selected manipulative texts addressing the target’s hobby or specific treatment to create a personalized phishing email.
AI and Cybersecurity: A Powerful Tool and a Rising Threat
The combination of cybersecurity and AI effectively automates IT protection, offloading tech specialists and enabling faster response times in any scenario. However, the same capabilities can also help attackers and give them an edge over their victims. The artificial intelligence threat is ever-evolving, and organizations worldwide must keep up with it to stay protected.
AI amplifies cyber attacks
Artificial intelligence is expanding criminals’ choices of fraud strategies and tactics. Moreover, the growing number of AI cyberattacks is also a challenge. AI can help hackers boost their performance and speed at all stages of an attack, from reconnaissance to exfiltration.
Since less time and effort are required to conduct a single cyberattack, one criminal or a cyber gang can launch more attacks per a given period without reducing their threat level. More attacks lead to higher performance requirements for monitoring and breach prevention systems. This is probably the simplest among all AI cybersecurity threats, yet it makes organizations invest additional resources to strengthen their IT protection.
AI-driven malware and advanced evasion tactics
Malware and ransomware also received AI enhancements for improved injection, execution and evasion capabilities. Natural language processing enables ransomware to check corporate documents upon reaching them and encrypt the most important data first. Additionally, AI automation allows malware to monitor internal network traffic and user presence to attack at the most suitable moment.
AI-driven malware can also use machine learning algorithms to analyze and mimic regular system behavior to remain undetected by the security software. Another artificial intelligence improvement to malicious programs is the possibility to change the code on the run and prevent antivirus detection. New sophisticated malware makes AI cyberattacks more dangerous and requires nonstop investigation to develop effective countermeasures.
Risks of AI-generated misinformation and data manipulation
Challenges can go beyond AI and cybersecurity risks. Artificial intelligence misuse creates a new dimension of multi-level problems with unpredictable outcomes. Fake news that look trustworthy due to high-quality deepfake content, AI-controlled social media accounts to manipulate public opinion and other scenarios that threaten the public good are part of today’s reality.
Protecting Your Data Against AI-Driven Cyber Threats: Key Recommendations
AI and cybersecurity risks are diverse and unpredictable, which means there is no universal guide to safeguard your IT infrastructure and data. However, following certain rules when creating a data protection strategy can help you prepare for ongoing and future challenges. Consider implementing the five key recommendations below to reinforce your organization’s data security.
System maintenance: regular patches and updates
Artificial intelligence tools enable hackers to shorten the time between the initial vulnerability detection and its exploitation for a cyberattack. Leaving weaknesses unpatched means keeping a backdoor open for malware infiltration, data theft or tampering.
Make sure you regularly update every element of your system, from the most frequently used applications to routers and BIOS versions. You may want to pay special attention to critical security patches. Installing them upon release can help you protect systems from massive non-specific cyberattacks, including AI-driven ones.
AI-enhanced security solutions
Human specialists or legacy protection algorithms can fail when dealing with sophisticated malware that leverages machine learning and other AI technologies. Reducing the security risks of artificial intelligence requires AI solutions working on your side.
With artificial intelligence applied to IT security, antiviruses and monitoring and threat prevention software, you can level the playing field when dealing with AI-driven malware. This enables faster detection of malicious code and behavior. Then, AI-enhanced protection systems can near-instantly react to suspicious activities inside your environment.
Access controls and multi-factor authentication
OTP bots and other hacking tools keep evolving, but excluding time-tested protection methods from your arsenal is counterproductive. Methods like access restriction and multi-factor authentication can effectively mitigate AI cybersecurity threats.
Multi-factor authentication improvements against spying OTP bots include moving one-time passwords from SMS or email messages to dedicated apps like Google Authenticator. In case your accounts still get compromised during a cyberattack, the Principle of Least Privilege (PoLP) applied via role-based access control can help mitigate the impact.
Staff education and training
Humans remain the main targets of cyberattacks. In most cases, AI tools can deceive regular users and skilled IT experts. Your staff members are the first line of defense against digital threats, which means they should be prepared.
Ensure that your employees know enough about the AI threat to cybersecurity. Do not limit education and practical training initiatives to IT-related teams. All employees should learn to recognize suspicious emails, calls, links, access requests, etc. Establish a clear threat response process and conduct regular exercises to test and improve staff cybersec qualifications.
Data backup
Cyber protection measures can still fail. Backups are the only reliable solution for maintaining control over your data in any disaster scenario. Create and regularly update backups of critical records to always have recoverable copies at hand. Modern solutions such as NAKIVO Backup & Replication can help you set up effective backup and recovery workflows regardless of your infrastructure type, size and complexity.
Conclusion
AI cybersecurity threats are constantly developing. Machine learning, deep learning, natural language processing and neural networks can help create more sophisticated and automated malware. Moreover, cybercriminals now have highly flexible tools to deceive digital protection systems and users.
Individuals and organizations must adjust their data protection strategies in the face of AI threats. Regular system updates, AI-enhanced security solutions, access restrictions and strong MFA can add resilience to digital environments. User education remains critical for successful AI and cybersecurity risk mitigation. A reliable data protection solution like NAKIVO Backup & Replication is the only way to ensure data recovery and support production continuity after cyberattacks.
