Phishing and Deepfakes Threaten to Overwhelm Cybersecurity Teams

October 2, 2024

Cybersecurity experts are not so worried about an impending takeover by sentient AI. Instead, they are more concerned with the very real, very human bad actors wielding AI tools. BetaNews points to a recent report from Team 8 as it reveals, “Phishing and Deepfakes Are Leading AI-Powered Threats.” Writer Ian Barker summarizes:

“A new survey of cybersecurity professionals finds that 75 percent of respondents think phishing attacks pose the greatest AI-powered threat to their organization, while 56 percent say deepfake enhanced fraud (voice or video) poses the greatest threat.

The study from Team 8, carried out at its annual CISO [Chief Information Security Officer] Summit, also finds that lack of expertise (58 percent) and balancing security with usability (56 percent) are the two main challenges organizations face when defending AI systems.

In order to address the threats, 41 percent of CISOs expect to explore purchasing solutions for managing the AI development lifecycle within the next one to two years. Additionally, many CISOs are prioritizing solutions for third-party AI application data privacy (36 percent) and tools to discover and map shadow AI usage (33 percent).

CISOs identify several critical data security concerns that currently lack adequate solutions — insider threats and next-gen DLP (65 percent), third-party risk management (46 percent), AI application security (43 percent), human identity management (40 percent), and security executive dashboards (40 percent).”

The survey also found over half the respondents are losing sleep over liability. Nearly a third have acted to limit their personal risk by consulting attorneys, upping their insurance coverage, or tweaking their contracts. It seems pressure from higher-ups may be contributing to their unease: 54% reported increased scrutiny from their superiors alongside larger budgets and widening scopes of work. Team8 managing partner Amir Zilberstein emphasizes the importance of taking care of one’s CISOs: They will need all their wits about them to navigate a cybersecurity landscape that is rapidly shifting beneath their feet.

Cynthia Murrell, October 2, 2024

Written by Stephen E. Arnold · Filed Under cybersecurity, News

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Stephen E. Arnold monitors search, content processing, text mining and related topics from his high-tech nerve center in rural Kentucky. He tries to winnow the goose feathers from the giblets. He works with colleagues worldwide to make this Web log useful to those who want to go "beyond search". Contact him at sa [at] arnoldit.com. His Web site with additional information about search is arnoldit.com.