Cybersecurity experts are warning that generative AI will greatly impact cyber attacks in 2024, with 83% of the respondents to a recent study believing that generative AI will play a more significant role in future cyber attacks. Yet despite the strong belief that AI will create more avenues for sophisticated cyber attacks in 2024, many organizations do not have an understanding of these advanced AI tools.
AI will be a two-sided approach in the new year as businesses will harness AI tools to fend off cyber attacks and the cybersecurity industry has scrambled to create AI-powered solutions. On the flip side, organizations will need to remain vigilant about potential threats driven by AI.
The study, conducted by cybersecurity consultancy Gemserv and titled “Through the Cyber Lens: The Evolving Future of Cyber Security,” surveyed 200 chief information security officers (CISOs) across the United Kingdom and Europe.
It highlighted the growing concern among CISOs regarding the use of deepfake AI technologies in cyber attacks.83% of the respondents believe that generative AI will play a more significant role in future cyber attacks, with 38% expecting a significant increase and 45% anticipating a moderate rise in attacks utilizing these technologies over the next five years. Despite this inclination that generative AI will be a threat, only 16% of respondents believe their organizations have an excellent understanding of these advanced AI tools.
More than three quarters (78%) of CISOs also believe the cyber threat landscape will become more complex and challenging over the next 12 months, while 83% expect more cyber attacks using generative AI tools.
Google Cloud’s global Cybersecurity Forecast also included generative AI as a top cybersecurity concern for 2024, urging security personnel to look out for nation-state backed attacks and more.
Risk managers face difficulties in securing budgets, making informed decisions, and recruiting and retaining the right talent. These obstacles underscore the urgency of investing in cybersecurity resources, including robust cyber threat intelligence, to proactively combat evolving threats.
Cyber criminals are already using AI-powered scams such as phishing emails, and they are expected to harness generative AI even more in 2024 for social engineering and identity theft campaigns. By using large language models, threat actors can impersonate high-level decision-makers and publicly visible C-suite executives.
Organizations are urged to conduct employee awareness training, regularly determine their overall security posture and ensure their downstream security measures can handle an employee falling for a phishing attack.
