Tag Archive for: AI

Hackers and the use of AI

Hackers are harnessing AI to exploit security flaws faster than ever.

Hackers are getting faster and growing more successful at exploiting vulnerabilities, all thanks to deeper integration of Gen AI tools into everyday operations, experts have warned.

The 2026 IBM X-Force Threat Intelligence Index report listed a few rather worrying statistics about the state of enterprise security, claiming a 44% increase in cyber-attacks exploiting public-facing applications (including websites and ecommerce portals, email services, online banking apps, APIs, and similar) compared to the year before.

These attacks are driven by an increase in vulnerability exploitation which, as per IBM, is to blame for 40% of all cyber-incidents observed in 2025. At the same time, the number of active ransomware operators increased by almost 50%, while the number of publicly disclosed attacks grew by 12%.

Reassessing traditional security assumptions

“Attackers aren’t reinventing playbooks, they’re speeding them up with AI,” said Mark Hughes, global managing partner for cybersecurity services at IBM. “The core issue is the same: businesses are overwhelmed by software vulnerabilities. The difference now is speed.”

These days, threat actors are primarily targeting large supply chains and third-party partners, IBM added, saying that the number of incidents against these entities increased by almost four times in half a decade.

Software, deployment environments, SaaS integrations, and CI/CD automation in development workflows seem to be the number one targets in these attacks.

Discussing how AI fits in this narrative, IBM says it primarily lowers the barrier to entry, making even low-skilled ransomware actors a huge threat. Small groups, with limited resources, can use AI to automate parts of their operations, becoming faster and more disruptive.

Looking ahead, IBM expects miscreants to start using AI for research, data analysis, and attack path refinements, all in real-time.

If you are looking for an expert to help you find the best solutions for your business talk to GCInfotech about a free technology assessment

Published with consideration from techradar.com SOURCE

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AI is great, but it creates a security blind spot

You’re focused on leveraging the latest technology for growth and innovation, but there’s a hidden risk that comes with it. The software, automated systems, and AI tools that power your business each have their own non-human identity (NHI). Managing these digital identities was a significant challenge even before the AI boom, but now, with intelligent agents capable of independent action, NHIs represent a critical threat that demands immediate attention.

Your company’s biggest, most overlooked security risk

Think about every piece of software, cloud application, and automated script your company uses. Each one needs credentials and permissions to access data and perform its tasks. That’s a massive, often invisible, digital workforce.

The problem here is that these NHIs are often created for a specific purpose and then forgotten, leaving a digital door wide open for attackers. This oversight leads to several common security gaps:

  • Ghost accounts: These are accounts and app credentials that are never disabled, even after a project ends or an employee leaves. Orphaned accounts like these are prime targets, as they are unmonitored and can provide persistent access to your network.
  • Weak credentials: Attackers use automated tools to constantly scan for easy-to-crack credentials, making them a significant vulnerability.
  • Lack of visibility: Most businesses have no clear picture of how many NHIs exist in their environment or what they have access to. If you don’t know an identity exists, you can’t secure it, monitor it, or recognize when it’s been compromised.

How AI supercharges the threat

If unsecured NHIs are like a key left under the doormat, then AI is like a team of burglars who can check every doormat in the city in a matter of seconds. AI-powered tools allow attackers to find and exploit these forgotten credentials with alarming speed and efficiency, turning a minor vulnerability into a major breach in minutes.

But the risk goes even deeper. The introduction of autonomous AI agents creates a new layer of complexity. AI agents are designed to act independently to achieve certain goals, which means they require broad access to your company’s systems and data. This can lead to:

  • Unpredictable actions: An AI agent given a simple task could find an unexpected and potentially destructive way to accomplish it. In a recent security test, an AI given access to company emails discovered it was going to be replaced. It then tried to blackmail the engineer in charge to save its “job.” Imagine the potential for data leaks or operational disruption if such an agent had access to your critical systems.
  • Shadow AI: Employees are increasingly using new AI tools without company approval or IT oversight. Each of these tools creates a new, unmanaged identity with access to your data, creating security gaps that your team can’t see.

Secure your business for the AI era

The rapid evolution of AI-driven threats can feel daunting, but you can take proactive steps to protect your business. The strategy starts with a few foundational principles:

  • Gain full visibility: You can’t protect what you can’t see. The first step is to discover and inventory every NHI across your entire digital environment. Utilizing specialized tools can help automate this process and provide a complete picture of your NHI landscape.
  • Enforce the principle of least privilege: Ensure every application, script, and system has only the absolute minimum level of access required to perform its function. If a tool doesn’t need access to sensitive customer data, it shouldn’t have it.
  • Manage the full life cycle: Implement a clear, automated process for creating, managing, and, most importantly, securely decommissioning NHIs when they are no longer needed.

Online threats may be sophisticated and constantly evolving, but a strong security plan can still keep them at bay. Our team of cybersecurity experts can help you gain a clear understanding of your current risk posture and develop a robust strategy to secure your business against the latest threats.

If you are looking for an expert to help you find the best solutions for your business talk to GCInfotech about a free technology assessment

Published with consideration from TechAdvisory.org SOURCE

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Email attacks on business tripled in 2023 — and ChatGPT was often the culprit

Email attacks against businesses have increased dramatically as hackers continually use generative AI tools to optimize their content and streamline malicious campaigns, new research has claimed. 

A new report from Acronis based on data collected from more than a million unique endpoints across 15 countries, found AI-powered phishing affected more than 90% of organizations last year, and that AI helped email attacks grow by 222% between the second half of 2023, and today.

“There’s a disturbing trend being recognised globally where bad actors continue to leverage ChatGPT and similar generative AI systems to increase cyberattack efficiency, create malicious code, and automate attacks,” said Candid Wüest, Acronis VP of Product Management. “Now, more than ever, corporations need to prioritize comprehensive cyber protection solutions to ensure business continuity.”

Leveraging Chat-GPT

Email attacks, mostly phishing, remain the primary vectors of infection, the report further states, with organizations experiencing a notable 54% increase in the number of attacks, per firm. Most of the attacks happened in Singapore, Spain, and Brazil, and Acronis identified a third of emails (33.4%) as spam. An additional 1.5% contained malware, or phishing links, it said.

Phishing is the primary infection vector for a number of reasons: email is omnipresent, it’s simple to use, and it’s cheap. It’s also easy to automate. Finally, victims overwhelmingly trust their email service providers to keep them safe from threats, often clicking on links and downloading attachments without second-guessing their good nature. 

In the pre-ChatGPT era, the easiest way to spot a phishing attack was to just use common sense and read the email message. Hackers are rarely English majors (many don’t live in English-speaking countries), and their messages were full of spelling and grammar mistakes, as well as clumsy wording and different inconsistencies. However, since the introduction of generative AI tools, email messages have become significantly more convincing. 

“The Acronis Cyberthreats Report H2 2023 highlights the continued threats faced by businesses of all sizes worldwide,” said Michael Suby, Research VP, IDC. “Unfortunately, bad actors continue to profit from these activities and are leveraging AI-enhanced techniques to create more convincing phishing schemes, guaranteeing that this problem will continue to plague businesses.”

If you are looking for an expert to help you find the best solutions for your business talk to GCInfotech about a free technology assessment

Published with consideration from TechRadar SOURCE

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