Cybersecurity in the Age of AI: Risks and Mitigation Strategies
- Angela Novelli
- Sep 19
- 3 min read
Cybersecurity in the age of artificial intelligence is a growing concern, as cyber attacks are becoming much more sophisticated and more difficult to mitigate. However, though AI is allowing cyber criminals to conduct these evolving attacks, organizations can also use AI for stronger mitigation to protect their assets and systems.
Research examining 2,800 ransomware attacks found that 80% of them were indeed powered by AI, highlighting that these advanced technologies are shifting the cybersecurity landscape significantly. Let’s take a look at some of these risks and challenges while also delving into the ways that organizations can develop mitigation strategies using AI.
Cybersecurity Risks of AI
With the help of AI, cybersecurity threats are much more difficult to detect and to prevent. Using AI-powered tools, cyber criminals can generate very convincing phishing emails directed at different members of an organization, bringing the challenge of detecting them to large and small workplaces. We have also seen deepfakes becoming a real issue, as what is generated with AI becomes harder and harder to figure out. This allows attackers to impersonate individuals, an executive of a big company for example, and spread false information or gain access to sensitive information or finances. These threats can be accelerated greatly now thanks to the efficiency of AI and its ability to adapt based on an organization’s defenses, causing a greater challenge to cybersecurity professionals.
Even large corporations like Microsoft, Google, and OpenAI have the potential to be at risk for cybersecurity attacks, particularly on their AI agents. Researchers have shown that the AI agents of these companies can be infiltrated in order to steal data, manipulate workflows and sometimes even impersonate users. Attackers could gain the opportunity to disrupt operations and spread long-term misinformation, which is very risky when AI agents are relied upon for important decisions.
One specific instance of this research showed that attackers were able to infiltrate Google’s Gemini and Microsoft 365’s Copilot, creating an insider threat. It could target users with social-engineering attacks and steal sensitive conversations, which could result in a major loss for these companies. These issues have since been fixed, and brought on a new perspective to taking action to protect crucial systems.
Though there are great challenges that AI brings to organizations, they also have potential to introduce new and innovative ways to improve cybersecurity while enhancing productivity and efficiency across the board.
Mitigation Strategies for Cyber Attacks Using AI
AI has proven to be a strong tool in cybersecurity defenses, allowing for more robust strategies in mitigating cyber threats and attacks. AI systems can analyze large amounts of data and information very quickly, allowing a faster detection of any anomalies and breaches to stop an attack before it can occur. For instance, AI can pinpoint any strange login patterns, reverse-engineer malware, flag potentially suspicious network activity, and predict possible vulnerabilities based on historical data.
Organizations can use AI for automated security hygiene, which might include systems that can patch themselves, self-healing software code, continuous attack surface management, zero-trust-based architecture, and more. These tasks can be done automatically, freeing up time for professionals to focus on more strategic ways to strengthen their defenses. Having these be automated ensures that they will continue to operate without consistent manual input, so that there will always be protection in place against attacks.
AI-powered defense systems incorporate analytics, machine learning, and real-time data that are utilized to mitigate threats and attacks by identifying and learning from them. Some examples from researchers include simultaneously automated moving-target defense as well as deceptive tactics and information. Both of these types of systems allow organizations to defend proactively rather than reactively, taking action to prevent loss before it can occur.
AI has proven to be a very powerful tool, and a game-changer for cybersecurity. While the emergence of new AI tools have introduced new challenges and risks, organizations can take proactive steps to mitigate them significantly in order to protect their sensitive information.
Contact Sedna at info@sednacg.com to talk to one of our experts on AI and how our services can best fit your organization’s needs.
“Cybersecurity is not a set of products – it’s a set of practices.”
– Ed Amoroso, Computer Security Professional
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