How effectively AI can be applied to cybersecurity was the subject of some debate at the RSA Security Conference held virtually from May 17-20. The event featured a virtual show "floor" of some 45 vendors offering various AI and machine learning capabilities for cybersecurity, and a program track dedicated to security-focused AI, according to an account in VentureBeat. Skepticism was high enough that Mitre Corp. developed an assessment tool to help buyers assess the AI and machine learning content of cybersecurity offerings. The AI Relevance Competence Cost Score (ARCCS) seeks to give defenders a way to question vendors about their AI claims, in much the same way they would assess other basic security functionality. Mitre is a US non-profit organization that manages federally funded R&D centers supporting several US government agencies.

For the past couple of years, renowned technologist and researcher Bruce Schneier has been researching how societal systems can be hacked, specifically the rules of financial markets, laws, and the tax code. That led him to his latest examination of the potential unintended consequences of artificial intelligence on society: how AI systems themselves, which he refers to as "AIs," could evolve such that they automatically - and inadvertently - actually abuse societal systems. "It's AIs as the hacker," he says, rather than hackers hacking AI systems. Schneier will discuss his AI hacker research in a keynote address on Monday at the 2021 RSA Conference, which, due to the pandemic, is being held online rather than in person in San Francisco. The AI topic is based on a recent essay he wrote for the Cyber Project and Council for the Responsible Use of AI at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs at Harvard Kennedy School.

If you don't have enough to worry about already, consider a world where AIs are hackers. Hacking is as old as humanity. We are creative problem solvers. We exploit loopholes, manipulate systems, and strive for more influence, power, and wealth. To date, hacking has exclusively been a human activity.