Cybersecurity experts from Kaspersky and the cybersecurity community gathered at the annual Kaspersky NEXT event in Athens this week, forecast a two-pronged approach to tackling threats from deepfakes. Sophisticated cybersecurity systems for AI will need to go hand in hand with thorough education and awareness programs for users to switch people on to how to spot the dangers posed by deepfakes and malicious AI actors.
Cybercrime quickly adopts new technologies. One of the most concerning trends is the rise of deepfakes — forged images, audio or video created with the aid of artificial intelligence, which makes them appear absolutely real — at least to the naked eye. The issue is all the more disturbing of late as tools for AI-generation become increasingly widespread and accessible to the general public.
Experts also predicts that there will be a growing need for technologies to protect personal AI systems from constantly evolving threats targeting them. We will increasingly depend on AI technologies for daily life. This dependence will introduce a new attack vector, attracting cybercriminals to exploit this new low hanging fruit. Such will likely cause users to have to invest into securing their personal AI from attacks.
Speaking from the event, Marco Preuss, Deputy Director Global Research & Analysis Team (GReAT) at Kaspersky, predicts: “The future as we see it will not only require us to find technological solutions to ever evolving new threats, but will require a mindset change. In this golden era of journalism, where news quality is more important than ever, we need to invest as much as possible into user education in order to protect our societies and our democracies against disinformation and similar threats.”
‘We have the capabilities and technologies to build new tools to protect our digital future selves, but what will be equally as important is a mindset shift”, commented Dan Demeter, Senior Security Researcher, GReAT, at Kaspersky. “We will need to start thinking differently to stay safe online, as lines between online and offline become ever more blurred. Staying safe from AI threats will be as much about the way we think, as about how we protect ourselves. Furthermore, education and awareness will be one of the crucial cornerstones combined with a robust cybersecurity solution.”
How to protect companies from evolving AI based threats
- Understand cybercriminal activities on the darkweb, anticipate potential risks and leaks when developing a cybersecurity strategy. Kaspersky Digital Footprint Intelligence offers surface, deep, and dark web monitoring to swiftly identify compromised credentials and mitigate potential attacks.
- Implement a sophisticated cybersecurity system which not only protect but also harness the power of AI to bolster security and detection.
- Invest in educational training courses and cybersecurity initiatives and awareness at all employer levels. Implement security awareness trainings to address AI-specific security needs and minimize the risk of internal cybersecurity incidents.
- Utilize threat intelligence services to gather insights on recent attacks, in order to protect computer systems from emerging threats,
- Comply with regulations. Besides technological and educational approaches to mitigate the risks, regulation is required as well. In many regulatory efforts, the risk of malicious use of AI in cyberattacks is highlighted and regulators urged for better methods of detecting and watermarking AI-generated media.
