The Dual Role AI Plays in Cybersecurity: How to Stay Ahead

There's a wide range of AI-enabled solutions available for various business use cases, and organizations are increasingly recognizing their value. According to a survey, 33 percent of organizations are currently leveraging generative AI in at least one business function.

Furthermore, it's projected that by 2026, more than 80 percent of enterprises will have their own generative AI APIs and models in operation.

The adoption of AI is driven by several factors, including the desire to enhance customer experience, increase revenue, and improve business continuity.

Cybersecurity is also a key area where AI is being used, with 51 percent of business owners planning to enhance their cybersecurity efforts using this technology.

AI presents significant advantages for organizations, but it's also being exploited to amplify and intensify cyberattacks. Cybersecurity and IT professionals need to acknowledge the dual nature of AI, as hackers view it as an additional weapon against vulnerable entities.

How hackers are harnessing the power of AI

Hackers are leveraging AI tools to augment their cybercrimes, enhancing the success, scale, and scope of their attacks in various ways, including:

• Improving social engineering tactics: Hackers are using AI to enhance the quality of their social engineering content. By leveraging AI, they can generate grammatically accurate and error-free web content, text messages, phishing emails, and even highly convincing voicemails. These deceptive tactics aim to trick victims into accessing malicious links, texts, and emails. AI's capability to analyze vast volumes of data from sources like social media platforms enables the creation of personalized messages that are challenging for victims to dismiss easily.
• Spreading malware: Vulcan Cyber researchers have discovered a method known as "AI package hallucination" in which advanced language models like ChatGPT generate URLs, references, and complete code libraries that do not truly exist. This presents an opportunity for attackers to replace these non-existent packages with their own malicious versions. Consequently, when users make similar queries or prompts, the search results may include these newly created malicious packages. If these packages are deployed, they can introduce harmful code into the application or network. The risk is heightened by the fact that even individuals without IT expertise are using generative AI, thereby exacerbating the potential threat.
• Enhancing malware capabilities for increased stealth: In cases where cybersecurity tools have successfully blocked malware, AI can be leveraged to develop new algorithms that empower the malware to adapt its behavior, evading detection and bypassing security measures. This enables the malware to navigate through a network with greater speed and precision, significantly prolonging its ability to remain undetected.

Staying ahead of AI-assisted cyberthreats

Ensuring robust cybersecurity measures has always been crucial, and it is even more imperative in today's landscape. Safeguarding your organization's digital assets against AI-enabled cyber threats requires proactive measures, including identifying and addressing vulnerabilities before they can be exploited.

A key aspect of this is conducting regular web application security testing to identify and mitigate any potential weaknesses or open endpoints that could be targeted by attackers. By prioritizing application security, you can fortify your defenses and minimize the risk of successful cyberattacks.

Pen Testing as a Service (PTaaS) is a comprehensive solution for web application security testing. Unlike traditional once-a-year pen testing, PTaaS offers continuous monitoring and on-demand manual security tests conducted by highly skilled and experienced pen testers.

This approach is crucial for evaluating the effectiveness of your current security measures and uncovering any overlooked vulnerabilities in your web applications. With Outpost24's PTaaS solution, you can benefit from zero false positives, a direct communication channel between developers and pen testers, and real-time vulnerability reporting.

Protect your organization with Outpost24

As the era of AI transforms the way we do business, it also brings new challenges for cybersecurity. While exploring the potential benefits of AI for your organization, it's crucial to remain vigilant against hackers who are leveraging AI for their malicious purposes.

Outpost24's PTaaS Solution  is a powerful tool that offers continuous monitoring and vulnerability detection for your organization's web applications. By utilizing PTaaS, you can establish a robust defense against AI-enabled cyberattacks and safeguard your digital assets.

 

Sponsored and written by Outpost24.