Disinformation 2.0 in the Age of AI: A Cybersecurity Perspective

According to a report from Lloyd's Register Foundation,a at present, cybercrime is one of the biggest concerns of Internet users worldwide, with disinformationb ranking highest among such risks (57% of Internet users across all parts of the world, socioeconomic groups, and all ages). For years, there has been a discussion in the security community about whether disinformation should be considered a cyber threat.10 However, recent worldwide phenomena (for example, an increase in the frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks, the 2016 U.S. election interference, the Russian invasion in Ukraine, the COVID-19 pandemic, and so forth) have made disinformation one of the most potent cybersecurity threats for businesses, governments, the media, and society as a whole. In addition, recent breakthroughs in AI have further enabled the creation of highly realistic fake content at scale. As such, we argue that disinformation should be rightfully considered a cyber threat, and therefore developing effective countermeasures is critically necessary.