AI Both Fuels And Fights Cyberattacks, According To Recent Report

AI-powered cybersecurity helps businesses combat cyber threats faster and more effectively, yet, cybercriminals also use the same technology to launch bigger and better cyberattacks, a recent report from Techopedia reveals. For example, phishing attacks increased by 1,265% in 2023 largely thanks to generative AI. But, despite that, almost 70% of businesses say AI-powered cybersecurity remains essential to combat cyberthreats human analysts are unable to deal with. The role of AI within the future of cybersecurity is therefore a complex one, as the technology continues to both empower and thwart cybercriminals at the same time.  

How do cyber criminals use AI? 

AI’s ability to automate makes it quicker and easier for cybercriminals to commit various cybercrimes, including zero-day, brute force, and Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. According to the Techopedia report, the technology’s particularly useful for DDoS attacks — attacks which flood servers with artificial traffic to crash websites. This is because AI “dynamically adjusts the attack vectors to adapt to changing network conditions”, which makes the attacks more prolonged and effective, even at larger scales.

Google hit with history’s biggest DDoS attack 

An AI-powered DDoS attack occurred last year when Google was hit by an unprecedented 398 million requests per second, which made it the biggest DDoS attack in history. Fortunately, however, Google’s DDoS mitigation infrastructure successfully neutralized the threat, while other companies also strengthened their cybersecurity infrastructures in response. To prevent being targeted in a future similar attack, businesses and individuals are advised to apply vendor patches for CVE-2023-44487 (which is the specific vulnerability that was exploited in the attack). 

Indeed, whether AI or manually-generated, cyberattacks are an increasing threat across the U.S. Last August, internet service providers and MSPs were targeted in zero-day attacks launched by the Chinese government. Additionally, California had the highest number of reported data breaches (1,338) out of all U.S. states in 2023 as their schools and hospitals were repeatedly targeted. As California is home to a lot of key infrastructure, this is likely why it holds such appeal for cybercriminals.

How can AI fight cybercrime? 

As hackers have already mastered AI for cybercrime, it makes sense for businesses to adopt the technology to better combat threats. For example, AI algorithms are increasingly used to sift through a vast amount of data to effectively identify and contain breaches. In fact, businesses that use AI “extensively” have a data breach lifecycle 108 days shorter than organizations who haven’t adopted AI, a recent IBM report reveals. As AI can analyze code for deviations and potential threats faster and more accurately than humans can, it improves malware detection rates by 70% compared to traditional methods. In particular, AI can monitor for harder-to-spot signs of compromise typically present during Advanced Persistent Threats (APT). As APTs are prolonged cyberattacks designed to go unnoticed, advanced AI algorithms can spot breaches better than standard solutions. 

As AI continues to influence the latest trends and strategies in cybersecurity, it’s important businesses adopt AI-powered solutions to combat threats. For now, however, AI remains a double-edge sword that continues to fuel and fight hackers alike.