27 Jan How to Fight AI-Powered Phishing
You may have seen recent press about ChatGPT, OpenAI’s large language model that is trained to generate human-like text. It’s an exciting technology with a lot of potential to improve productivity and the search experience, but not everyone uses powerful tools for good. While its developers have taken steps to prevent ChatGPT being used for malice, we’re seeing a new cyberthreat: Criminals are using AI tools like ChatGPT to sharpen their social engineering attacks, particularly phishing.
When the offense gets smarter, your defense needs to keep up. Here are four points to watch out for as hackers push this new frontier:
A High Degree of Personalization
AI-powered cybercriminals can more easily collect and use data from a company’s website and social media accounts to create highly personalized and effective phishing emails. These emails will be supercharged with specific company information, making them easier to trust. Stay vigilant and verify before you trust.
Evading Traditional Security
New patterns generated by AI phishing emails may bypass traditional security measures such as spam filters and anti-virus software because they are not based on previously seen patterns chronicled in phishing databases. This increases the need for human-based security.
More Convincing Deception
AI’s use of natural language processing creates phishing emails that are highly convincing. From applying the best practices that marketers have developed to get you to open and click in an email to making the wording sound more natural, AI is helping cybercriminals hack your mind. This can make it difficult for individuals to spot phishing emails, making employee education and awareness training even more critical.
Part of a Larger Plot
Cyber criminals are known to use AI-powered phishing emails as a first step in a larger cyberattack campaign. Once the user is tricked, the attacker can gain access to sensitive information or install malware. Don’t let the attackers use a better key to access your network.
NINJIO is committed to providing cybersecurity awareness training that helps keep your employees recognize and prevent cyberattacks, regardless of how innovative they are. To learn how you can protect your organization, get in touch with a cybersecurity awareness advisor today.