2 key steps to protect your data
To protect your organization against malicious use of generative AI, you need a multilayered cybersecurity strategy.
A strong approach that blends preventive, investigative and reactive measures is your best chance of warding off cybercriminals.
2 key cyber protection competencies
In this period of artificial intelligence, businesses require two key cyber protection competencies:
1. Artificial intelligence for detection
It is time to use the same tactics as the attackers. Businesses need 24/7, AI-based security monitoring to detect signs of a breach. AI can survey traffic patterns and detect any unusual activities, such as large data transfers or irregular logins.
While it may not be possible for some businesses to construct the necessary tools and personnel for a 24/7 surveillance system, several vendors on the market can provide cyber protection.
AI is employed by providers of security as a service (SECaaS) to constantly search for potential hazards.
These providers are more likely to recognize weak spots than internal teams, and they have expertise in the most recent practices and newly occurring threats.
Additionally, the best security partners can access global intelligence sources to ensure they are protecting clients against any new threats.
2. Assessment through advanced attack simulation
Simulated assaults that mimic the complex nature of current security threats can help businesses and their service providers test their defenses.
The days of relying on just basic IT audits and vulnerability scans are gone. The malicious use of generative AI means criminals are smarter and savvier.
The best way to thwart them is by employing testers to carry out attacks that mimic real-world scenarios, such as social engineering and external authentication attempts.
Those testers can also help evaluate how your IT personnel, security measures and associates handle different types of cyberattacks.
They will also ascertain if the attacks were blocked, detected or entirely ignored. And provide a report with tangible steps for how to correct flaws and adjust your detection and response abilities.
Old tools in new hands
In the wrong hands, generative AI makes the old ways of breaching your defenses tougher to stop and/or detect.
Here are the common ways they can use AI to breach your cyber defenses:
- Social engineering: Using AI, cybercriminals can fabricate messages that have the appearance of being from reputable sources, such as banks or government departments, in an attempt to fool people into giving up confidential data, such as login details or identification information.
- Phishing: AI can be used to produce complex phishing emails that persuade users to click on tainted links or download malware.
- Spamming: Cybercriminals can make use of AI to generate a large number of spam emails that are hard to differentiate from authentic messages.
- Malware attacks: AI can be used to generate code that can be used to take advantage of system weaknesses and launch malware attacks.
- Fraud: Cybercriminals can use AI to produce phony documents, such as invoices or receipts, for fraudulent purposes.
To help mitigate the risk, reputable AI tools have incorporated preventive measures that will reject any inquiries regarding unlawful behavior. But clever criminals get still slip around by simply rephrasing the inquiry.
The ongoing threat
At this time, there aren't any regulatory limits on the use of AI tools, so it is up to businesses to anticipate and address potential risks.
But it isn’t really a question of whether there will be regulation, but more the who and the how.
As governments debate the issue, AI experts around the world have been sounding alarms about the potential risks of AI — both small and existential.
That means chief technology officers are losing a lot of sleep these days — and that cybersecurity isn't just the CTO's responsibility.
How Wipfli can help you
Our cybersecurity team can help assess your risk and response plans to both AI and human attacks, as well as provide recommendations on how to protect your people and data. Learn more about how we can help keep you safe.
