Social Engineering in the Age of AI: What You Need to Know

 Source: Evolution of AI Technologies Fueling the Social Engineering Attacks (cybersecuritynews.com)

The rapid emergence of AI as a significant player in the field of technology more broadly, and cybersecurity, more specifically, has had a substantial and disruptive impact on many aspects within those fields. When taking a closer look at its cybersecurity implications, one of the major areas where AI's revolutionizing impact has taken hold has been within the landscape of social engineering attacks. Here, its usage has had a tangible impact by making social engineering operations more sophisticated and effective. Cybercriminals, APTs, and other threat actors alike are all able to leverage AI to enhance their tactics, techniques, and procedures, such as Business Email Compromise (BEC), spear phishing, and many more. This results in heightened risks for corporations and government entities surrounding potential cyberattacks and necessitates the need for mitigation actions to counter the increased threat level. 

When looking more closely at BEC attacks, we find that they involve scammers impersonating individuals in positions of authority, such as CEOs, CFOs, and other executive positions, to trick employees into transferring money, sensitive information, or otherwise doing the attacker's bidding. Through deep fakes and voice-mimicking technology, AI has facilitated the effectiveness of such attacks by increasing their realism and convincing potential for employees on the receiving end of such attacks. Highlighting this increased risk is the instance in which attackers successfully leveraged AI to defraud a company out of $25 million through voice-mimicking software to impersonate a CFO's voice. 

Spear phishing, on the other hand, is more targeted towards its victims, as it involves particular and personalized attacks that are tailored to exploit their targets while stealing credentials and/or distributing malware. In this arena, AI tools come in handy to aid attackers in crafting personalized emails to their victims that appear to come from legitimate sources. Furthermore, it can help in collecting and analyzing open-source data surrounding a potential victim to aid in crafting an attack that is as personalized as it can be toward its target. Furthermore, techniques such as email thread hijacking, where attackers insert themselves into ongoing conversations, are becoming more prevalent and effective through the capabilities offered by AI tools. 

Ultimately, when it comes to combatting such heightened and often highly sophisticated threats, organizations must climb the skill ladder similarly, and institute advanced security measures to counter them. These can include, but are not limited to, multi-factor authentication (MFA), phishing campaigns and training within an organization, and robust email security solutions. Furthermore, implementing continuous monitoring strategies, along with using AI in the detection process against AI-driven attacks, can further aid in the mitigation and detection process in the long term. 

For a broader analysis surrounding the topic, feel free to check out Cybersecurity News.