RISE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE WILL LEAD TO AN INCREASE IN CYBERATTACKS, GCHQ WARNS

Mon 29 January 2024:

The British spy agency GCHQ issued a warning last week about the rise in cyberattacks and the decreasing barrier to entry for less experienced hackers looking to cause harm online due to the quick development of innovative Artificial Intelligence (AI) capabilities.

The National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), a division of GCHQ, stated in a research that the lessened entrance barrier will probably also lead to an increase in ransomware assaults worldwide, in which criminals encrypt computer systems in exchange for a digital ransom. This is according to the Reuters report.

“AI will almost certainly increase the volume and heighten the impact of cyberattacks over the next two years. However, the impact on the cyber threat will be uneven,” the report said.

It suggested the biggest increase in capability for malicious actors in cyberspace would go to opportunistic hackers who do not necessarily possess the skills needed to carry out higher-level attacks.

At the very least, the report said, the use of generative AI tools like chatbots can help create more convincing emails or documents used in online phishing campaigns.

On an advanced level, more capable state-backed hackers were “best placed to harness AI’s potential in advanced cyber operations against networks, for example use in advanced malware generation”, said the report, referring to malicious software and computer viruses.

Intelligence agencies across the world are grappling with the rise of potential security problems tied to algorithms that can generate human-sounding interactions – dubbed large language models, or LLMs, such as OpenAI’s ChatGPT, which businesses are incorporating into a wide range of services, including sales and customer care.

The security implications of AI are still coming into focus. Authorities in Britain, the U.S. and Canada have said they have seen hackers embrace the technology.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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