While everyone from students, researchers, to tech workers enjoy the immense benefits offered by Artificial Intelligence and Large Language Models (LLM) like GPT 4, cybercriminals are using it for malicious purposes. Hackers are using it to engage in phishing and other forms of cyber threats. The emergence of weaponized AI has caused a rapid rise in the frequency and sophistication of cyber threats globally.
With the AI in the picture, security experts must sit and think of strategies and defense against a far more formidable foe aimed with the capability to evolve and adapt to defense mechanisms.
Let us explore the threats that are posed by AI today along with some ways to prevent them.
What threats do AI pose in 2024?
AI has become a game-changing technology that has helped businesses and individuals in multiple use cases.
Since AI can provide speed, accuracy, and the incredible ability to automate and adapt, cybercriminals leverage it to make themselves more undetectable and persistent.
The following are some of the primary ways through which cybercriminals are leveraging the weaponization of AI:
Phishing
Cybercriminals use AI-based chat assistants that work on LLM (like Chat GPT) to engage in more natural sounding phishing emails. It has even enabled a lot of beginner level hackers to come up with more sophisticated phishing emails. Hackers without proficiency in English can craft phishing emails written in fluent English.
As per the recently released 2024 Phishing Report by the Zscaler ThreatLabz, there is a 58% rise in phishing compared to 2023. It found that LLM chatbots could craft more believable and accurate phishing emails and convincing phishing pages. It found that Chat GPT creates a login page for phishing in 10 prompts or less.
Misinformation
State-sponsored attackers are using AI to cause political chaos by spreading misinformation among the masses. There are incidents where state-sponsored attackers have tried to manipulate elections by spreading misinformation about the candidates among the masses. It is also being used to cause political uncertainty between nations. Which points us towards another threat, deepfake.
Deepfake
Deepfake is among the top weaponized AI threats, with cybercriminals using deepfake to steal money, spread fake news, orchestrate financial frauds/scams, extortion, and cause political instability by impersonating real-world people like CEOs, political figures, etc. What makes deepfake dangerous is that they are continuously evolving and becoming more indistinguishable from real people.
As per Avast, there has been a significant rise in human manipulation tactics-based threats like Deepfake and AI-based audio synchronization since Q1 2024.
Reconnaissance
Cybercriminals are leveraging AI’s advanced, high-precision capabilities to quickly gather information from multiple sources about their targets. They are using its analysis capabilities to narrow down their targets and make their phishing attacks more effective. It has enabled them to launch quick social engineering-based attacks that provide more precise information about their victim, making their targets more susceptible to falling for the bait.
Training + building malicious tools using AI
Apart from weaponization, AI is also widely used by cybercriminals who are less skilled or experienced with technical tools and techniques to sharpen skills. It is also used to build malicious tools and programs.
For example, Fraud GPT, a tool that can be acquired from the dark web, offers multiple malicious capabilities, from acting as an educational tool to sharpen skills, quickly creating phishing emails to creating malicious tools for Advanced Persistent Threats that help them remain undetected and persistent in a network.
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