October is Cyber Security Month, and experts say that the emphasis this year is on the increased challenges AI has created.
In the 21st century, cyber security has been a constantly evolving arms race, and with the rise of artificial intelligence, the battle has reached new heights with cyber defense now requiring proficiency on multiple front.
October is Cyber Security Month, and after a cyber-attack on the parent company of GIANT and Martin’s food stores, cyber security protocols are becoming even more important particularly in the age of AI.
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“There’s a human component to cybersecurity, and now there’s an artificial intelligence component to cybersecurity. So when you add it up, you have to get technical defenses right, human defenses right, and you have to find ways of not allowing AI to create new opportunities and vectors of threats,” said James Norrie, a professor of Cyber Security at York College.
Artificial intelligence has created new threats to cyber security with its ability to quickly collect data on scores of users, giving scammers the ability to personalize attacks and directly target the human component. The ability to take personal information and tailor attacks to a specific person means that no target is too small or too big to become susceptible to attacks.
“Nobody means to be attacked or means to be vulnerable, but they are,” Norrie explained. “And so, the humans can always typically get you around the technical defenses. And then the second thing is, if there’s a brand new exploit, a brand new type of technology, somebody’s always going to be first.”
Artificial intelligence allows scammers to act as trusted family, friends or authority figures, and with the chances of data recovery slim after an attack, knowing the warning signs of a scam is critical. Confirming who you are in contact with is an important step to ensure security, along with remembering that if an offer is too good to be true, it often isn’t legitimate.
“If it involves anything to do with sending money, urgency, emergency, all of the typical triggers because they still prey on our psychology because we’re humans. So, we can be made to feel afraid, or we can be made to feel threatened, or we can have a fear of missing out,” noted Norrie.
If you do fall victim to a scam, it is also important to reach out to not only get help but to help others from falling victim.
“The number of times that we see these awful attacks where people feel after the fact that they’re really embarrassed, that could have been prevented, I’d rather be embarrassed and call and have somebody call me and find out it’s not an attack than they not call me and find out it is an attack,” Norrie said.
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