{"id":2672,"date":"2020-09-09T20:55:38","date_gmt":"2020-09-09T20:55:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/2020\/09\/09\/how-hackers-are-weaponizing-artificial-intelligence\/"},"modified":"2020-09-09T20:55:38","modified_gmt":"2020-09-09T20:55:38","slug":"how-hackers-are-weaponizing-artificial-intelligence","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/2020\/09\/09\/how-hackers-are-weaponizing-artificial-intelligence\/","title":{"rendered":"How hackers are weaponizing artificial intelligence"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?rct=j&#038;sa=t&#038;url=https:\/\/techhq.com\/2020\/09\/how-hackers-are-weaponizing-artificial-intelligence\/&#038;ct=ga&#038;cd=CAIyHDkyYmU1MGQ5NjY1NjYxZTA6Y28udWs6ZW46R0I&#038;usg=AFQjCNEF644lLLwx1Ajxhat-QptDuteCmA\">How hackers are weaponizing artificial intelligence<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- row 1 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row single-row-1\" data-equalizer data-equalize-on=\"medium\">\n<p>                <!-- social media icons --><\/p>\n<p>                <!-- main area --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-7 medium-7 columns main-area\" data-equalizer-watch>\n<p>                    <!-- primary tag --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!-- title --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!-- post summary --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row columns post-summary\">\n                        From OCR to self-learning malware, hackers are now leaning on AI to bypass security systems.                    <\/div>\n<p>                    <!-- date & shares --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row columns single-date-shares\">\n                        9 September 2020\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- row 2 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row single-row-2\" data-equalizer>\n                <!-- featured image --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-9 medium-9 columns single-featured-image\" data-equalizer-watch>\n                    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/VKiaDT.jpg?resize=640%2C360&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-thumb-861w484h size-thumb-861w484h wp-post-image lazyload\" alt=\"Cyborg with red luminous eyes on black background. Front view of science fiction cyborg with a shiny dark metal. Robot with artificial intelligence. Robot man with artificial metal face. 3D rendering\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/VKiaDT.jpg 861w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-560x315.jpg 560w, https:\/\/cdn1.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-223x126.jpg 223w, https:\/\/cdn1.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-375x210.jpg 375w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-757x426.jpg 757w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 861px) 100vw, 861px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 640px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 640\/360;\"><\/div>\n<p>                <!-- author & caption --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-3 medium-3 columns single-author-caption\" data-equalizer-watch>\n                    <!-- author --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row columns single-author\">\n<div class=\"large-5 medium-5 columns author-thumbnail\">\n<div class=\"avatar\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/7A0Nok.png?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Mark Jones\" class=\"avatar avatar- wp-user-avatar wp-user-avatar- alignnone photo lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                    <!-- caption --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row columns single-caption\">\n<p class=\"caption\">\n                            In the wrong hands, AI is proving dangerous. Source: Shutterstock                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <!-- row 3 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row single-row-3\">\n                <!-- left col --><\/p>\n<p>                <!-- main content --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-7 medium-7 columns single-content\" id=\"article-body\">\n<p>                    <!-- article --><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cybercrime is a lucrative activity and one that\u2019s getting easier to enter<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Threats are becoming more widespread and sophisticated, attackers are increasingly leaning on AI to bypass security systems&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>In an age where everything is becoming connected and data is regarded as a business\u2019s most valuable commodity, cybersecurity continues to diversify in a hyper-competitive marketplace.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"mobile-advert-mpu\">\n<div class=\"ad-in-article\">\n<div id=\"in-article\"> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Set to hit a worth of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/595182\/worldwide-security-as-a-service-market-size\/#:~:text=The%20global%20cybersecurity%20market%20size,network%2C%20and%20data%20from%20cyberattacks.\"><span>US$248 billion by 2023<\/span><\/a><span>, the prosperity of the sector is down to the constant growth and mutations of cyberthreats, which every year demands higher caliber weaponry with either better precision or a wider spread.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Cybercrime, today, is where the money is. The tools to enact it are widely available even to non-technical individuals. Anyone can get their hands on exploit kits of varying levels of sophistication, starting from a couple of hundred bucks, right up to tens of thousands.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A report by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/we-found-out-how-much-money-hackers-actually-make-2015-7?r=US&amp;IR=T#getting-a-certificate-signed-17\"><i><span>Business Insider<\/span><\/i><\/a><span> revealed that a hacker seeding ransomware this way could make around US$84K a month on <\/span><i><span>average<\/span><\/i><span>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This is both a massively lucrative and \u2018accessible\u2019 activity, so it\u2019s certainly not going to subside. It\u2019s predicted that, in the future, all our connected devices will be under attack constantly as cyberattacks become harder to detect, incessant, and ever more sophisticated.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The risk for businesses, of course, include serious damages in information loss, revenue loss, and a potential end to business operations, if not a crippling fine, injury, or even<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techhq.com\/2020\/09\/ceos-will-be-held-accountable-for-killer-malware-in-future-says-gartner\/\"><span> loss of life<\/span><\/a><span>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The cybersecurity market will continue to grow as a result, with vendors offering an expansive and sophisticated arsenal. At the same time, these companies and their customers will be locked in a constant race, with their defenses only as good as the next iteration of malware.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On both sides of this war, emerging technologies will continue to play a key role, and artificial intelligence (AI) is no exception.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Cybercriminals can take AI designed for legitimate use cases and adapt it to illegal schemes. Readers will be familiar with CAPTCHA, a tool that has been around for decades now in order to defend against credential stuffing by presenting non-human bots the challenge of reading distorted text. As far as a couple of years ago, however, a Google study found that machine learning-based optical character recognition (OCR) technology could solve 99.8% of these challenges.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Criminals are also using AI to crack passwords faster. Brute force attacks can be sped up using deep learning; researchers have fed purpose-built neural networks tens of millions of leaked passwords, and have asked them to generate hundreds of millions of new passwords, which in one trial, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/news\/2017\/09\/artificial-intelligence-just-made-guessing-your-password-whole-lot-easier\"><span>turned out a 26% success rate<\/span><\/a><span>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Given the black market of cybercriminal tools and services, AI can be used to make operations more efficient and profitable. As well as identifying targets for attacks, cybercriminals can start and cease attacks with millions of transactions in just minutes, owed to fully-automated infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to Malwarebyte\u2019s paper<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.malwarebytes.com\/resource\/artificial-intelligence-goes-awry-separating-science-fiction-fact\/\"> <i><span>When Artificial intelligence Goes Awry<\/span><\/i><\/a><span>, AI technology could soon bring us into the unwelcome age of \u2018malware 2.0\u2019. While there are currently no examples of AI-powered malware \u2018in the wild\u2019, if the technology opened new avenues for profit, \u201cthreat actors will be standing in line to buy kits on the dark market or use GitHub open source [\u2026]\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The biggest concern regarding AI\u2019s use in malware is that new strains would be able to learn from detection events. If a strain of malware was able to determine what caused its detection, the same behavior or characteristic could be avoided the next time around. If a worm\u2019s code was the reason for its compromise, for example, automated malware authors could rescript it. If attributes of behavior caused its detection, randomness could be added to foil pattern-matching rules.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The use of AI could also improve a method of certain Trojan malware variants, where they create new file versions of themselves to fool detection routines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Faced by this fast-moving and evolving threat, cybersecurity will increase leverage the power of AI itself.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Advanced antivirus tools can leverage machine learning to identify programs exhibiting unusual behavior, to scan emails for indications of phishing attempts, and automate the<\/span><span> analysis of the system or network data to ensure continuous monitoring.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Given that the cybersecurity industry is facing a widening skills gap, we can reasonably expect investments in \u2018intelligent\u2019 cybersecurity systems to be the next best course of action. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><!-- author tablet mobile --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row columns author-tablet-mobile\">\n                        <!-- author pic --><\/p>\n<div class=\"medium-2 small-2 columns author-pic\">\n<div class=\"avatar\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/7A0Nok.png?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Mark Jones\" class=\"avatar avatar- wp-user-avatar wp-user-avatar- alignnone photo lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                        <!-- author details --><\/p>\n<p>                        <!-- author cta --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- \n\n\n<div id=\"comments-202007\" class=\"comments-area\">\n\n    \n\n\t\t\n\n<ul class=\"vertical menu accordion-menu\" data-accordion-menu>\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"join-conversation\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button id=\"fbcommentbutton-202007\" class=\"button comments\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<h5>JOIN THE CONVERSATION<\/h5>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<ul class=\"menu vertical nested\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<li><a href=\"#\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<div id=\"fbcommentcontainer-202007\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t            \n\n<div class=\"fb-comments\" data-href=\"https:\/\/techhq.com\/2020\/09\/how-hackers-are-weaponizing-artificial-intelligence\/\" data-width=\"100%\" data-numposts=\"10\"><\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t        <\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\n\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- #comments --><\/div>\n<p>                <!-- sidebar --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-3 medium-3 columns popular-stories show-for-medium\">\n<div class=\"side-bar-advert-1\">\n                        <!-- \/101030411\/TECHHQ_MPU_1 --><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-6\">\n            <\/div>\n<p><!--\n                        \n\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1520939459600-0' style='height:250px; width:300px;'>\n                            <script>\n                                googletag.cmd.push(function() );\n                            <\/script>\n                        <\/div>\n\n\n-->\n                    <\/div>\n<p>                    <!-- sidebar --><br \/>\n                    <!-- \/101030411\/TECHHQ_MPU_1 --><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1595758569531-0\">\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- row 5 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row expanded single-row-5\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n                    <!-- read more --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-4 medium-4 columns read-more\">\n<p class=\"date\">9 September 2020<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"large-4 medium-4 columns read-more\">\n<p class=\"date\">9 September 2020<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"large-4 medium-4 columns read-more\">\n<p class=\"date\">8 September 2020<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <!-- row 6\n            \n\n<div class=\"row expanded single-row-6\">\n                \n\n<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n                        \n\n<div id='div-4' style=\"text-align: center;margin-top: 30px;\">\n            <script type='text\/javascript'>\n                googletag.cmd.push(function() );\n\n            <\/script>\n        <\/div>\n\n\n                <\/div>\n\n\n            <\/div>\n\n --><\/p>\n<p>Published at Wed, 09 Sep 2020 07:52:30 +0000<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.google.com\/url?rct=j&#038;sa=t&#038;url=https:\/\/techhq.com\/2020\/09\/how-hackers-are-weaponizing-artificial-intelligence\/&#038;ct=ga&#038;cd=CAIyHDkyYmU1MGQ5NjY1NjYxZTA6Y28udWs6ZW46R0I&#038;usg=AFQjCNEF644lLLwx1Ajxhat-QptDuteCmA\">How hackers are weaponizing artificial intelligence<\/a><\/p>\n<p><!-- row 1 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row single-row-1\" data-equalizer data-equalize-on=\"medium\">\n<p>                <!-- social media icons --><\/p>\n<p>                <!-- main area --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-7 medium-7 columns main-area\" data-equalizer-watch>\n<p>                    <!-- primary tag --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!-- title --><\/p>\n<p>                    <!-- post summary --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row columns post-summary\">\n                        From OCR to self-learning malware, hackers are now leaning on AI to bypass security systems.                    <\/div>\n<p>                    <!-- date & shares --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row columns single-date-shares\">\n                        9 September 2020\n                    <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- row 2 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row single-row-2\" data-equalizer>\n                <!-- featured image --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-9 medium-9 columns single-featured-image\" data-equalizer-watch>\n                    <img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"640\" height=\"360\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/VKiaDT.jpg?resize=640%2C360&#038;ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-thumb-861w484h size-thumb-861w484h wp-post-image lazyload\" alt=\"Cyborg with red luminous eyes on black background. Front view of science fiction cyborg with a shiny dark metal. Robot with artificial intelligence. Robot man with artificial metal face. 3D rendering\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/VKiaDT.jpg 861w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-300x169.jpg 300w, https:\/\/cdn1.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-768x432.jpg 768w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-1536x864.jpg 1536w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-2048x1152.jpg 2048w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-1440x810.jpg 1440w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-560x315.jpg 560w, https:\/\/cdn1.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-223x126.jpg 223w, https:\/\/cdn1.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-800x450.jpg 800w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-375x210.jpg 375w, https:\/\/cdn.techhq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/shutterstock_1338732590-757x426.jpg 757w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 861px) 100vw, 861px\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 640px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 640\/360;\"><\/div>\n<p>                <!-- author & caption --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-3 medium-3 columns single-author-caption\" data-equalizer-watch>\n                    <!-- author --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row columns single-author\">\n<div class=\"large-5 medium-5 columns author-thumbnail\">\n<div class=\"avatar\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/7A0Nok.png?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Mark Jones\" class=\"avatar avatar- wp-user-avatar wp-user-avatar- alignnone photo lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                    <!-- caption --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row columns single-caption\">\n<p class=\"caption\">\n                            In the wrong hands, AI is proving dangerous. Source: Shutterstock                        <\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <!-- row 3 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row single-row-3\">\n                <!-- left col --><\/p>\n<p>                <!-- main content --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-7 medium-7 columns single-content\" id=\"article-body\">\n<p>                    <!-- article --><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><strong>Cybercrime is a lucrative activity and one that\u2019s getting easier to enter<\/strong><\/li>\n<li><strong>Threats are becoming more widespread and sophisticated, attackers are increasingly leaning on AI to bypass security systems&nbsp;<\/strong><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span>In an age where everything is becoming connected and data is regarded as a business\u2019s most valuable commodity, cybersecurity continues to diversify in a hyper-competitive marketplace.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"mobile-advert-mpu\">\n<div class=\"ad-in-article\">\n<div id=\"in-article\"> <\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p><span>Set to hit a worth of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/595182\/worldwide-security-as-a-service-market-size\/#:~:text=The%20global%20cybersecurity%20market%20size,network%2C%20and%20data%20from%20cyberattacks.\"><span>US$248 billion by 2023<\/span><\/a><span>, the prosperity of the sector is down to the constant growth and mutations of cyberthreats, which every year demands higher caliber weaponry with either better precision or a wider spread.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Cybercrime, today, is where the money is. The tools to enact it are widely available even to non-technical individuals. Anyone can get their hands on exploit kits of varying levels of sophistication, starting from a couple of hundred bucks, right up to tens of thousands.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>A report by <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.businessinsider.com\/we-found-out-how-much-money-hackers-actually-make-2015-7?r=US&amp;IR=T#getting-a-certificate-signed-17\"><i><span>Business Insider<\/span><\/i><\/a><span> revealed that a hacker seeding ransomware this way could make around US$84K a month on <\/span><i><span>average<\/span><\/i><span>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>This is both a massively lucrative and \u2018accessible\u2019 activity, so it\u2019s certainly not going to subside. It\u2019s predicted that, in the future, all our connected devices will be under attack constantly as cyberattacks become harder to detect, incessant, and ever more sophisticated.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The risk for businesses, of course, include serious damages in information loss, revenue loss, and a potential end to business operations, if not a crippling fine, injury, or even<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/techhq.com\/2020\/09\/ceos-will-be-held-accountable-for-killer-malware-in-future-says-gartner\/\"><span> loss of life<\/span><\/a><span>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The cybersecurity market will continue to grow as a result, with vendors offering an expansive and sophisticated arsenal. At the same time, these companies and their customers will be locked in a constant race, with their defenses only as good as the next iteration of malware.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>On both sides of this war, emerging technologies will continue to play a key role, and artificial intelligence (AI) is no exception.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Cybercriminals can take AI designed for legitimate use cases and adapt it to illegal schemes. Readers will be familiar with CAPTCHA, a tool that has been around for decades now in order to defend against credential stuffing by presenting non-human bots the challenge of reading distorted text. As far as a couple of years ago, however, a Google study found that machine learning-based optical character recognition (OCR) technology could solve 99.8% of these challenges.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Criminals are also using AI to crack passwords faster. Brute force attacks can be sped up using deep learning; researchers have fed purpose-built neural networks tens of millions of leaked passwords, and have asked them to generate hundreds of millions of new passwords, which in one trial, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.sciencemag.org\/news\/2017\/09\/artificial-intelligence-just-made-guessing-your-password-whole-lot-easier\"><span>turned out a 26% success rate<\/span><\/a><span>.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Given the black market of cybercriminal tools and services, AI can be used to make operations more efficient and profitable. As well as identifying targets for attacks, cybercriminals can start and cease attacks with millions of transactions in just minutes, owed to fully-automated infrastructure.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>According to Malwarebyte\u2019s paper<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/resources.malwarebytes.com\/resource\/artificial-intelligence-goes-awry-separating-science-fiction-fact\/\"> <i><span>When Artificial intelligence Goes Awry<\/span><\/i><\/a><span>, AI technology could soon bring us into the unwelcome age of \u2018malware 2.0\u2019. While there are currently no examples of AI-powered malware \u2018in the wild\u2019, if the technology opened new avenues for profit, \u201cthreat actors will be standing in line to buy kits on the dark market or use GitHub open source [\u2026]\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The biggest concern regarding AI\u2019s use in malware is that new strains would be able to learn from detection events. If a strain of malware was able to determine what caused its detection, the same behavior or characteristic could be avoided the next time around. If a worm\u2019s code was the reason for its compromise, for example, automated malware authors could rescript it. If attributes of behavior caused its detection, randomness could be added to foil pattern-matching rules.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>The use of AI could also improve a method of certain Trojan malware variants, where they create new file versions of themselves to fool detection routines.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Faced by this fast-moving and evolving threat, cybersecurity will increase leverage the power of AI itself.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Advanced antivirus tools can leverage machine learning to identify programs exhibiting unusual behavior, to scan emails for indications of phishing attempts, and automate the<\/span><span> analysis of the system or network data to ensure continuous monitoring.&nbsp;<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span>Given that the cybersecurity industry is facing a widening skills gap, we can reasonably expect investments in \u2018intelligent\u2019 cybersecurity systems to be the next best course of action. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><!-- author tablet mobile --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row columns author-tablet-mobile\">\n                        <!-- author pic --><\/p>\n<div class=\"medium-2 small-2 columns author-pic\">\n<div class=\"avatar\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/7A0Nok.png?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Mark Jones\" class=\"avatar avatar- wp-user-avatar wp-user-avatar- alignnone photo lazyload\" src=\"data:image\/svg+xml;base64,PHN2ZyB3aWR0aD0iMSIgaGVpZ2h0PSIxIiB4bWxucz0iaHR0cDovL3d3dy53My5vcmcvMjAwMC9zdmciPjwvc3ZnPg==\"><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>                        <!-- author details --><\/p>\n<p>                        <!-- author cta --><\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- \n\n\n<div id=\"comments-202007\" class=\"comments-area\">\n\n    \n\n\t\t\n\n<ul class=\"vertical menu accordion-menu\" data-accordion-menu>\n\t\t\t\t\n\n<li>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"#\" class=\"join-conversation\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<button id=\"fbcommentbutton-202007\" class=\"button comments\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<h5>JOIN THE CONVERSATION<\/h5>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/button>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<ul class=\"menu vertical nested\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<li><a href=\"#\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n\n<div id=\"fbcommentcontainer-202007\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t            \n\n<div class=\"fb-comments\" data-href=\"https:\/\/techhq.com\/2020\/09\/how-hackers-are-weaponizing-artificial-intelligence\/\" data-width=\"100%\" data-numposts=\"10\"><\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t        <\/div>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/ul>\n\n\n\t\t\t\t<\/li>\n\n\n\t\t<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n\n<!-- #comments --><\/div>\n<p>                <!-- sidebar --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-3 medium-3 columns popular-stories show-for-medium\">\n<div class=\"side-bar-advert-1\">\n                        <!-- \/101030411\/TECHHQ_MPU_1 --><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-6\">\n            <\/div>\n<p><!--\n                        \n\n<div id='div-gpt-ad-1520939459600-0' style='height:250px; width:300px;'>\n                            <script>\n                                googletag.cmd.push(function() );\n                            <\/script>\n                        <\/div>\n\n\n-->\n                    <\/div>\n<p>                    <!-- sidebar --><br \/>\n                    <!-- \/101030411\/TECHHQ_MPU_1 --><\/p>\n<div id=\"div-gpt-ad-1595758569531-0\">\n  <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><!-- row 5 --><\/p>\n<div class=\"row expanded single-row-5\">\n<div class=\"row\">\n                    <!-- read more --><\/p>\n<div class=\"large-4 medium-4 columns read-more\">\n<p class=\"date\">9 September 2020<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"large-4 medium-4 columns read-more\">\n<p class=\"date\">9 September 2020<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"large-4 medium-4 columns read-more\">\n<p class=\"date\">8 September 2020<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>            <!-- row 6\n            \n\n<div class=\"row expanded single-row-6\">\n                \n\n<div class=\"row\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\n                        \n\n<div id='div-4' style=\"text-align: center;margin-top: 30px;\">\n            <script type='text\/javascript'>\n                googletag.cmd.push(function() );\n\n            <\/script>\n        <\/div>\n\n\n                <\/div>\n\n\n            <\/div>\n\n --><\/p>\n<p>Published at Wed, 09 Sep 2020 07:52:30 +0000<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>How hackers are weaponizing artificial intelligence From OCR to self-learning malware, hackers are now leaning&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":2670,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2672","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-artificial-intelligence"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/techclot.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/09\/VKiaDT.jpg?fit=861%2C484&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3orZX-H6","jetpack-related-posts":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2672"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2672\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2670"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2672"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2672"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/techclot.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2672"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}