Advances in artificial intelligence (AI) could facilitate illegal hacking, fraud and money laundering, by providing the technical know-how needed to commit such crimes, top US intelligence and law enforcement officials have warned.
Less capable people are using AI to learn, create tools, conduct hacks that they would not have been able to do on their own before, said Rob Joyce, at the International Conference on Cyber Security at Fordham University in Manhattan, director of cybersecurity at the US National Security Agency.
US intelligence agencies are using AI to identify hackers trying to attack critical infrastructure, but there are also signs that hackers are using AI to attack. (Photo: economictimes)
“The way this technology is being used is going to make AI more dangerous than ever, using it to attack power grids, transportation systems, and courthouses, trying to break in so they can cause the most social disruption and panic at the right time,” Joyce said . At the same time, Rob Joyce added that, on the other hand, advances in AI are also helping the US government find malicious cyberattacks.
Joyce's comments come at a time when generative AI tools capable of creating convincingly realistic text and images are increasingly being used in cyberattacks and espionage campaigns of varying scales.
“The FBI has seen an increase in illegal cyber intrusions as AI technology lowers the technical barriers to attack,” James Smith, assistant director in charge of the FBI’s New York field office, said at the conference.
AI could also facilitate certain types of financial crimes, two top federal prosecutors said. Damian Williams, the U.S. Attorney in Manhattan, said AI could help people who don’t speak English create believable-sounding messages to try to trick potential victims into paying.
Breon Peace, the US Attorney in Brooklyn, said AI-generated “Deepfake” images and videos could be used to fool banks’ customer identity verification systems to steal money, or to conduct illegal money laundering activities. “AI technology could enable criminals and terrorists to operate on a large scale and at a more sophisticated level, thereby undermining the cybersecurity controls that have been developed over the past decades,” said Breon Peace.
HUYNH DUNG (Source: Reuters/Techcrunch)
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