Take These Steps Today To Protect Yourself Against AI Cybercrime

Artificial intelligence is revolutionizing the field of cybercrime, which forces us to learn new defensive skills. Cyber ​​criminals are increasingly using powerful artificial intelligence technologies such as deep forgery and intelligent cyberattacks to fraud and destruction at an unprecedented scale. It is reported that 87% of global businesses have been targeted for AI cybercrime over the past year.

So, how can we avoid becoming victims of this wave of smart crimes? Let’s explore how to identify risks and take protective measures at the individual and organizational level.

How cybercriminals use artificial intelligence

As technology advances, criminals are constantly looking for new ways to attack individuals, businesses and governments. The widespread use of artificial intelligence may be the latest aspect, but its potential harm is unprecedented.

In particular, AI circumvents our ability to resist digital and psychological defenses that are built against common social engineering-based cyberattacks, making it a threat worthy of attention.

Some of the most eye-catching AI cyber crimes involve deep falsification—highly realistic synthetic images, videos and audio designed to deceive victims. Criminals use deep falsification to convince employees that they are talking to their bosses, thereby instructing them to transfer money.

More basic AI tricks include using tools like ChatGPT to create compelling personalized phishing emails. This makes it easier for fraudsters to convincingly imitate corporate communications or communications from official agencies such as tax authorities.

But artificial intelligence is not only used to deceive people, but is also secretly used to perform technology and network-based attacks. This allows hackers to automate processes such as network scanning, so as to detect vulnerabilities faster and smarter.

It can also enable new viruses and malware that can mutate to evade detection and optimize brute force cracking and guessing ways to access the system.

Furthermore, it makes it easier for anyone to create dangerous software (such as viruses) because it removes technical barriers to those who may be malicious but do not have the ability to write code.

It is said that if cybercrime is a country, it would be the third largest economy in the world, second only to the United States and China. All of this is the money stolen by criminals from individuals and businesses. So, what measures can we do to reduce the risk of becoming a victim?

Where to start?

We are used to taking crime prevention measures in the real world. For example, avoid walking through dark alleys late at night, or believe that if something looks too good to be true, it might be true.

In the Internet age, we also realize the importance of some basic steps, such as being cautious in sharing online information, using two-factor authentication, using strong passwords, and ignoring unsolicited emails that mention huge amounts of money.

Artificial intelligence software developers and cybersecurity experts are doing their best to solve this problem. But as previous threats show, taking personal responsibility for one's own safety is also crucial.

The first step is to learn to identify threats. This means staying aware of the dangers posed by the attacks mentioned here and the possible new threats in the future. Resources like Hacker News and Krebs Cybersecurity News are worth paying attention to.

Next, we should hone our critical thinking skills. Just as we infer that deposed foreign royals are unlikely to try to send us huge sums of money, we must learn to look at what can be false and think: Is this really possible?

We must learn to use AI at the individual level to fight AI. There are tools and applications that can be used to detect AI content. Common Internet security platforms also introduce AI-driven scanning and protection functions, so they should be kept up to date.

But it's an arms race where AI malware may at some point surpass and circumvent antivirus and other defenses. This means we may have to reevaluate our practices about storing sensitive information online and to whom we provide it.

Are we sure that the businesses and services we provide data ahead of the bad guys? Are lawmakers and elected governments forced them to protect this data in the right way?

Resolving these steps can be considered the first step towards enhancing resilience to AI cyber attacks, but this is just the beginning.

Looking to the future

Of course, we have no idea how AI will really affect cybersecurity (or anything else) in the long run. Deep fakes will undoubtedly become more convincing, and as our lives and identities become more online and digital, the temptations and rewards of criminals will increase.

The best way to prepare for individuals and businesses is to view AI cyber defense as a long-term strategy. This means developing awareness and building coping when threats arise, rather than waiting until they have hit us before taking action.

Everyone should call for high standards of moral transparency and accountability for artificial intelligence. The opaque black box system and lack of protective measures will only make life easier for cybercriminals.

Fundamentally, the point should be to strengthen resilience, which means developing resilience when things go wrong. This starts with priority sorting. While we may not be able to protect everything, make sure we have protection, backup and recovery plans for what matters most.

But even if the risks posed by AI-powered cybercriminals to our data, property, and even personal safety are very real, we should never feel helpless.

Yes, it is difficult to protect ourselves from threats or enemies when we don’t know how they change and develop. But by taking a strategic approach and making some simple changes to the way we think and handle what we see online, we can give ourselves the opportunity to fight it.

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