AI technologies could boost capabilities of hackers

In response to the increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies to defend against cyber attacks, malicious actors are now discussing their potential application for criminal use. Research from Control Risks, the global risk consultancy, has shown that the development of techniques to use these technologies and tools to enhance their capabilities is now increasingly on the agenda of cyber threat actors. Nicolas Reys, associate director and head of Control Risks' cyber threat intelligence team, explained: "More and more organisations are beginning to employ machine learning and artificial intelligence as part of their defences against cyber threats. Cyber threat actors are recognising the need to advance their skills to keep up with this development. One application could be to use deep learning algorithms to improve the effectiveness of their attacks. This shows that AI and its subsets will play a larger role in facilitating cyber attacks in the near future."