Artificial intelligence (AI), and most people must have heard about it. AI enables people to have a great online experience, and it is the engine behind cyber technology. Delivering automated services, and more personalized engagement with brands and providers. It also protects people online, detecting threats in real time and preventing cyber attacks. AI is critically important to our online lives.
Unfortunately, AI’s far-reaching potential isn’t only used by the good guys: even criminals are developing more sophisticated attacks, harnessing AI algorithms and machine learning technology to automate and increase the scope of harmful programs. And while fundamental AI has been used for unlawful activities for decades, and has led to an exponential rise in the volume of attacks. As a result, cybercrime is now a multibillion-dollar business.
In order to be effective, machine learning technologies need to harvest huge amounts of data and develop robust pattern-recognition links that make connections to known malware. This enables them to identify the suspect and unknown software for further investigation. All of this happens in a matter of seconds.
As malicious programs spread and evolve extremely quickly, it goes on to prove that speed is one of the key advantages of using machine learning within security processes. While most threats have a short shelf-life, they often morph into something else in order to avoid detection. This means data needs to be processed at great speed. Put simply, machines can act much faster than the human analysts trying to monitor them.
IoT devices such as Google Home or Amazon Echo are growing in popularity. It is predicted that 55 percent of homes will have smart speakers by 2022. No matter for what the people use smart speakers, but it will over time, gather valuable personal data about the habits of the household. This makes it very attractive for cybercriminals in stealing money or personal information.
Cheaper smart speakers are of most concern because they are designed to be convenient, and not built with security in mind, so their default settings are weak. One of the first things a user will do is link various accounts to their new smart speaker using the device’s default settings.
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There is also concern about vulnerabilities that we haven’t found, it often come to light after the fact, meaning IoT devices could already contain vulnerabilities – we just don’t know it yet. Remember EternalBlue existed in Windows software since Windows XP, and we only came to know about it 2017 when it allowed ransomware attackers to carry out their plan with WannaCry.
The more we live out our days online and surround ourselves with IoT devices the more motivation criminals will have to target. Fortunately, the AI machine helps us to protect people from threats. It’s the powerful combination of man and machine.