CS Jan-Feb 2024

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artificial intelligence AI - WHERE NEXT? WITH EVER MORE ALARMING NEWS EMERGING ABOUT THE PERILS OF AI, HOW MIGHT THE TECHNOLOGY ADVANCE AND MUTATE FROM HERE - AND WHAT WILL THAT MEAN FOR THE SECURITY INDUSTRY? As AI technologies become ever more sophisticated, the security risks associated with their use and the potential for misuse will increase correspondingly. "Hackers and malicious actors can harness the power of AI to develop more advanced cyberattacks, bypass security measures and exploit vulnerabilities in systems," warns global media company Forbes. It's a dispiriting picture. Does it suggest that AI may gradually spiral out of control, to the point where it dictates, rather than follows? And what might that dystopian vision mean not just for our industry, but for humanity as a whole? However, as David Mahdi, CIO, Transmit Security, points out, technology is essentially "morally neutral" and can be used for good or ill. Just as AI and Large Language Models (LLMs) can be used for positive purposes, they can similarly be used with malicious intent. "It was not even one year after the release of ChatGPT that bad actors developed generative AIenabled tools, such as FraudGPT and EvilGPT," he points out. "Back in February 2023, we predicted that by 2024 attackers would have a Generative AI service that would include: reconnaissance information on specific companies, malicious code, software vulnerabilities, zero day vulnerabilities, compromised identities, credit cards, loyalty programme accounts, customer and employee personally identifiable information to help with social engineering attacks and more. We were right, if a few months off." The sheer scale and velocity of attacks will require organisations to start employing a holistic AI-based approach, in order to fight these new threats, Mahdi warns. "They need to go from relying on toughto-scale detection to overall automated defence strategies which empower teams - whatever size or level - to leverage AI/ML tools that enhance real-time detection, as well as offline analysis, case management, model improvement and proactive protection." ECOSYSTEMS WILL BE STREAMLINED As the industry's focus shifts towards operational agility and acceleration, companies will look to streamline their security ecosystems, limiting suppliers to a finite number of reliable and effective vendors, predicts Mike Spanbauer, field CTO at Juniper Networks. "The complexity of multi-system integrations will give way to vendors who can integrate efficiently and provide technology that just works. These vendors will be relied on to deploy secure IT systems, underpinned by artificial intelligence and machine learning [ML] that ensure fully optimised user experiences. This will be especially important as the quantifiable benefits from the use of AI related to analytics and operational playbooks develop further. These benefits will help bridge some of the heavy lifting that Security Operations Center (SOC) analysts do today. The technology will also benefit how response and mitigation capabilities translate into operational ones." At the same time, AI will continue to prove dangerous in the hands of threat actors, accelerating their ability to write and deliver effective threats. "Organisations will need to adapt how they approach defence measures and leverage new, proven methods to detect and block threats. We will see the rise of nearly realtime measures that can identify a potentially malicious file or variant of a known threat at line rate." We can also expect organisations to make larger investments in Zero Trust network security strategies," Spanbauer continues. ACCELERATED THINKING One potential benefit to society that AI offers, states David Trossell, CEO and CTO of Bridgeworks, is the use of AI and ML in WAN Acceleration. Why is that? "Well, with increasing reliance on digital technologies, latency and packet loss could have their own field day by slowing down Wide Area Networks, such as the internet. When WANs are slow, hackers can intercept data that's often unencrypted in flight. A slow WAN can also extend the time it takes to back up and restore sensitive data that is required to maintain an organisation's service continuity. "WAN Optimisation doesn't live up to its promise. Data is sent unencrypted and is then re-encrypted at either end of the pipe. WAN Optimisation often doesn't live up to its data and network acceleration promise. AI is being used with SD-WANs and it's a great technology, but it, too, needs a boost with WAN Acceleration to increase the speed of encrypted data transfers. "Organisations must consider how they protect their data, and how they can increase their bandwidth utilisation by mitigating the effects of latency and packet loss to improve their ability to maintain service continuity and to prevent cyberattacks. WAN Acceleration can be an 18 computing security Jan/Feb 2024 @CSMagAndAwards www.computingsecurity.co.uk
artificial intelligence effective tool in the armoury of the security industry; they need to deploy AI over WANs to stop cybercriminals in their tracks. It can ensure that regulatory compliance is achieved and maintained." SCALING NEW CYBERCRIME LEVELS The UK government, for its part, has warned that AI is likely to increase the risk of cyberattacks by 2025 by allowing cybercriminals to orchestrate more effective and large-scale attacks at a faster rate, points out Charl van der Walt, head of security research at Orange Cyberdefense. "Cybercriminal activity has risen dramatically this year, which correlates with the explosion of ChatGPT and LLMs onto our collective consciousness. In fact, our data shows that the number of ransomware attacks that took place between January-September has increased by over three quarters YoY. While correlation isn't causation, there’s no doubt that AI is allowing cybercriminals to scale at a rate we have never seen before." A key trend he identifies is that LLMs and machine translation are forcing an increased 'internationalisation' of cyber extortion as a crime - allowing actors from different language groups to target and extort victims in English-speaking countries, and allowing victims in countries that don't use 'common' languages to be extorted more readily. "Think of places like China and Japan where language may have historically presented a barrier to criminals." The UK Government's focus on AI and its impact on cybercrime is therefore applaudable and, while we await regulation, he concludes, "it's vital that businesses are aware of its impact on the cybersecurity landscape and take every step possible to defend against it". " DEEP CONCERNS More than half (53%) of global IT decision makers are concerned about ChatGPT's ability to help hackers craft more believable and legitimate sounding phishing emails, says Gareth Lockwood, VP of product, Censornet. It's also much easier to create convincing deepfakes in manipulated videos and images. "Now, more than ever, bad actors can easily manipulate the power of AI to automate and advance attacks. Generative AI is helping hackers create highly persuasive content for phishing or business email compromise (BEC) attacks. "The pressing question that all cybersecurity teams need to ask, he feels, is how to adapt to these changes. "This comes at a time when security leaders are feeling overwhelmed. 35% of UK SMEs have two or fewer people in their cybersecurity team. And with this comes huge risk. One in five cybersecurity professionals are losing sleep over concerns - up from 9% on 2022, contributing to lack of concentration and inability to focus. Staffing shortfalls, coupled with the relentless pace and complexity of threats, places immense pressure on existing teams." Intelligent automation and integration are the keys to regaining control. "In the future, the evolution of AI in cybersecurity is expected to focus on predictive analytics and proactive threat mitigation. By harnessing the power of machine learning and data analysis, AI systems can anticipate potential vulnerabilities and threats before they materialise, allowing organisations to adopt a more pre-emptive security posture." HUMAN-AUTOMATION BALANCE AI is set to proliferate every aspect of the working environment, as organisations automate tasks and become more cost effective and efficient. To remain competitive, says Michelle Moody, managing director, Technology Consulting at Protiviti, "they will embark on the AI journey that will include a variety of use cases from supply chain optimisation, predictive/ Charl van der Walt, Orange Cyberdefense: AI is allowing cybercriminals to scale at a rate we have never seen before. Mike Spanbauer, Juniper Networks: expect organisations to make larger investments in Zero Trust network security strategies. www.computingsecurity.co.uk @CSMagAndAwards Jan/Feb 2024 computing security 19
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CS Jan-Feb 2024

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